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STATU YOLISM; 

OR, 

ARTIFICIAL SOMMMBULISM, 



HITHERTO CALLED 



<f^^^&>.. 



' 1881 > 

MESMERISMi^, ^J^L^^' 

OE, 

^NIMA.L ivc^aisrETisM:, 

CONTAINING A BRIEF 

HISTORICAL SURVEY OP MESMER'S OPERATIONS, AND THE EXAMINATION OF 
THE SAME BY THE FRENCH COMMISSIONERS. 

PHEENO-SOMNAMBULISM ; OR, THE EXPOSITION OF PHHENO-MAaNETISM AND NEUROL- 
OGY. A NEW VIEW AND DIVISION OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL ORGANS INTO FUNC- 
TIONS, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OP THEIR NATURE AND QUALITIES, ETC., IN THE 
SENSES AND FACULTIES ; AND A FULL AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE 
VARIOUS PHENOMENA BELONGING TO THIS STATE ; INCLUDING ITS 
- DIVISION INTO TWO DISTINCT CONDITIONS, VIZ.: THE WAK- 
ING AND SLEEPING, WITH PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS 
HOW TO ENTER AND AWAKE FROM EITHER. 

THE IDENTITY OF THESE CONDITIONS WITH OTHER STATES AND MYSTERIES. 

TOGETHER WITH 

AN ACCOITNT OF SEVERAL OBSTETRICAL CASES DELIVERED WHILE IN THIS STATE; "TH8 

PROPER METHOD OF PREPARING SUBJECTS FOR SURGICAL OPERATIONS ; THEIR 

MANAGEMENT DURING AND AFTER THE SAME, AND THE LATEST 

AND BEST METHOD OP CURING DISEASES, ETC., IN THOSE 

PERSONS WHO ARE IN THAT CONDITION. 

i BY 

WM. BAKER FAHNESTOCK, M.D. 

CHICAGO: 

RELIGIO-PHILOSOPHICAL PUBLISHINa HOUSE, 

S. S. JONES, PROPRIETOR. 

1871. 






^'H 

\'^^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 
WM. B. FAHNESTOCK, 

la the Clerk's OflSce of the District Court of the United States, in and for 

the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



PREFACE. 



» • • » > 




ITCH has already been written upon this interesting 
subject, both by foreign and domestic writers, 
and the appearance of a new work, by an American 
author, may at this time be thought unnecessary. 

The subject, however, I conceive, has heretofore 
been but imperfectly understood, and so often mis- 
represented, even by its most strenuous supporters, that a 
work giving the facts is loudly called for. 

It cannot be denied that the friends of the sciencfe have but 
too frequently overstepped the mark, by mistaking appear- 
ances for facts, and relating marvellous powers and phe- 
nomena, which, in reality, were but creatures of their own 
fancy. 

On the other hand, the enemies of the science have, 
unhappily, without any positive or practical knowledge of 
it themselves, wilfully magnified these misrepresentations, 
and by torrents of unsparing invective, hoped to crush it at 
a blow ; erroneously supposing that ridicule could put down 
or annihilate phenomena which they could not explain by 
an imperfect philosophy. 

It is no wonder, therefore, that so many have stood aloof, 
or set their faces against it, and at this late day one must 
almost be ashamed to advocate its truth or demonstrate its 

usefulness. 

37 



38 PREFACE. 

This state of things is much to be regretted, and the 
religious prejudices which have in many instances been 
excited against it, are much to be deplored. 

It has always been a matter of astonishment to me to see 
and hear those who profess to be so much in favor of doing 
good, blindly opposed to this science, which of all others is 
most likely to bring health to the afflicted and joy to the 
sore at heart. A want of knowledge in regard to its true 
nature has been the cause of this much-to-be-regretted 
neglect or oversight. 

The time for reformation, however, has now come, and 
it is to be hoped that Somnambulism will soon be entirely 
rescued from the hands of charlatans, and placed upon a 
footing with the more favored branches of knowledge. 

Scientifically applied to the various uses which its phe- 
nomena warrant, it will soon be inseparably joined to Medi- 
cine and Surgery, and with those branches be co-equal in 
relieving disease. 

Experience has already sufficiently tested its usefulness, 
not only in surgical operations, but in a long catalogue of 
diseases, ^tc, upon which protracted courses of medicine 
had no beneficial efiects. 

This I know to be true, yet it is necessary for every one 
to see before they can believe. I am content that every one 
shall enjoy that privilege, and should be very sorry to 
censure those who do not believe, or credit that which has 
not been made evident to their senses. 

Every one has a right to doubt, but they should not 
hastily condemn phenomena, or assert that they are not 
true, until they can positively ancj unequivocally prove the 
contrary. 

With these remarks, I submit this work to the public, 
with a perfect conviction that its contents are true, and 
with hopes that before any portion of it is approved or 
condemned, that it be thoroughly and scientifically inves- 
tigated. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 




\ UCH as I dislike to burden the language with new 
terms, I have thought it best to change the title of 
my book. The science of mind, of which it treats, 
has been so little understood, and so inappropriately 
named, that I am compelled to this course. 
Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Somnambulism? 
and various other names that have been applied to it, do 
not convey correct ideas in regard to it. The name used in 
the first edition has been objected to, because sleep-walking 
forms no part of the phenomena presented by persons in the 
condition. I have selected the word Statuvolism, from two 
Latin words — Status, a state or condition, and Volo, the 
will — meaning thereby, a state produced by an act of the 
will. 

The subject, of the influence of the mind over disease, I 
am happy to say, is receiving much more attention than at 
any former period. 

In the earlier and rudimental ages, the physical predomi- 
nated over the mental, and the conflict was with muscle 
rather than brain. Gradually, however, the influence of 
the mind has been gaining ground, and in the progress 
of the race the rude speculations of the earlier philoso- 
phers have given place to the more careful observations of 
thinking minds. In the science of mind. Gall opened the 

39 



40 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

true path of investigation, and through the combined labors 
of Spurzheim, Combe, and others, we have reached a much 
more definite and philosophical system. 

The friends of this science may have claimed more for it 
than it is justly entitled to, but the fundamental facts that 
the brain is a series of organs, and that these have definite 
locations, are too well established to admit of a doubt. I 
know that these facts have been objected to, upon the ground 
that in cases of dropsy of the brain, where the convolutions 
were unfolded by the efi'usion, the intelligence of the subject 
was not always impaired. But the objectors, in their zeal 
to overthrow the science, overlooked the fact that such un- 
folding did not destroy the fibres of the brain, but onl}' al- 
tered their position, which were wisely placed so as to occupy 
the least possible space, at the same time that peculiar quali- 
ties occupied certain localities which those gifted with com- 
prehensive minds were enabled to locate. 

Other experimenters working upon a difierent plane, and 
although less direct in their efforts to develop mind, have in 
a measure done so inadvertently, in their endeavors to in- 
vestigate and account for the various phenomena exhibited 
by persons who were in a statuvolic condition ; but, instead 
of attributing them to the true cause, they ascribed them to 
some outside force, such as Animal Magnetism, a nervous 
fluid or Od force. Numerous experiments, however, have 
proved that all these forces are imaginary, and the facts all 
demonstrate that the cause of this condition is the will of 
THE SUBJECT. A powcr that they can use at pleasure, in- 
dependent of any person, force, or outside influence, when 
they have been taught the true nature of their powers therein. 

My experiments for the past thirty years have proved that 
the entire system, or any part of it, may be thrown into the 
statuvolic condition by an act of the will, and that when in 
this condition they can awaken any particular organ or part 
of the body, apd leave the rest in the st£t,te — as Poctor Henry 



INTEODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 41 

T. Child of Philadelphia, and many others, can now do at 
pleasure. 

For most of the time during the last three years and eight 
mouths, Doctor Child had been suffering severe pain in his 
hand (which was poisoned at a post-mortem examination), 
and although he had been in the Statuvolic condition hun- 
dreds of times before I met him, he received but little benefit 
from it, until he learned, at once, how to keep the hand in 
the insensible condition by an act of his own will. The 
swelling and redness passed gradually away, and a positive 
resolution upon his part, when in the condition, made a tho- 
rough cure. 

In other experiments upon the functions of the brain when 
persons were in a Statuvolic condition, I found that the will 
was supreme, and that if they made a positive resolution, or 
entertained a belief that certain things relating to themselves 
sliould or would take place when they came out of the con- 
dition, the things thus resolved upon or believed would cer- 
tainly take place, whether they were conscious or not of 
having made a resolution, or entertained such a lyelief when 
in the condition. 

The possession of this power by them, led me to apply it 
to the cure of diseases, contracted habits and unhapp}^ con- 
ditions of the mind, with the most happy results, even in 
cases where protracted courses of medicine had no beneficial 
efiects. 

The blessings that are possible from a proper use of this 
power cannot be estimated; but as it may also be abused, 
or from a want of proper knowledge upon the part of the 
subject or others, be so used as to create pain, disease; or an 
unhappy condition of the mind, it shows the necessity of 
understanding the true nature of the condition, and the 
power of subjects therein, or the results may be evil whei-.-^ 
good was intended ; for it must be rembered, that if it be 
possible for the will to cure, it is also possible for it to create 



42 INTEODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

disease ; and as no good ever results from entering the state 
(as illustrated in the case of Dr. Child), unless the mind of 
the subject is properly directed (whether by themselves or 
others), the necessity of a thorough knowledge of the true 
nature of the condition is the more imperative. 

Great injury has often resulted from false teaching as well 
as from ignorance, and the sooner the nature of the condi- 
tion is understood, and the powers of the mind studied by 
subjects, and those into whose care they may have entrusted 
themselves, the sooner will mankind reap the benefits which 
a proper use of this art was destined to confer. 

There can also be no doubt that the mind, even when in 
a normal condition, is often the cause of disease, and that 
until a knowledge of its power to create afflictions is fully 
understood, many ills will continue to be produced that hu- 
manity is not naturally or necessarily heir to. 

The great question — ^What is "Will ? — has not yet been 
solved, and I can only say that in man the action of a single 
organ of the brain produces a 'peculiar impulse and will in 
the organ acting, if all the functions act simultaneouslj'^ ; 
but for a given object, it requires the activity and co-opera- 
tion of the functions of several faculties, and as they act 
harmoniously, will the result be in keeping with their char- 
acter. 

Impulse, is like a mob. Will, is like a regularly trained army. 
It is through the will that the mind produces all that distin- 
guishes civilized from savage man. 

By this he builds cities, tunnels mountains, lays railroads 
across the continent, navigates oceans, and has put a girdle 
round the earth, by which all nations are bound together. 

I trust that the day is not far distant, when a more en- 
lightened condition will pervade the community in regard 
to this subject. 

Each one who learns this art, practically, is not only 
capable of relieving themselves, but will be able to teach 



INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 43 

others, and when mankind have thoroughly learned this 
science, they will not only be able to remove disease, but it 
will open a new way for a much greater development of 
their physical and mental powers, so that they may say to the 
waves of disease and tribulation, " thus far shall ye come ;" 
and when the highest and purest development of all the 
X>owers of man's being shall be unfolded, he will stand erect 
in the true dignity of his manhood ; and having banished 
the tendencies to crime as well as to disease, the earth will 
truly become a paradise for all God's children. 

Since the first edition of this work was issued, quite a 
number of diseases were relieved by entering the Statuvolic 
condition — such as Hip disease, Dyspepsia, Neuralgia, Epi- 
leptic Convulsions or Fits, Diseases of the Spine, Consump- 
tion, Rheumatism, and among other interesting cases, was 
one of Tetanus or Locked Jaw, from an injury in the sole 
of the foot, which, as it illustrates the necessity of making 
a resolution, or fixing the mind upon the disease, I will give 
in detail, as follows : 

Miss Herr, about one year ago, was afflicted with Hip dis- 
ease, and was entirely relieved by keeping the hip in the 
insensible condition until perfectly restored. Upon the first 
of August, 1871, as she was passing an old building that 
was being unroofed, she trod upon a nail which entered the 
fleshy part of her foot, through the shoe, so deeply that it 
struck the plantar surface of the central bones of the foot ; 
and from the symptoms which ensued, must also have in- 
jured an important branch of the plantar nerve, for she is 
said to have become quite pale and dejected immediately 
after the accident. 

From some cause, which I mainly attribute to a want of 
confidence upon her part, she could not or did not throw 
herself into the Statuvolic condition, and by the next morn- 
ing alarming tetanic symptoms supervened, which induced 
her parents to send for me. 



44 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

I found her laboring under very uneasy feelings about the 
head, neck and back, accompanied by pain in all these parts. 
She was feverish, with flushed countenance, had no appetite, 
and was so much dejected that she took no interest in any- 
thing. 

The foot, though somewhat swollen, was not painful, and 
the wound, upon which some bacon and herbs were tied, 
was discharging a little thin, unhealthy looking matter. 

After some cheering and encouraging remarks, I insisted 
upon the necessity of throwing herself into the Statuvolic 
condition, which she then, as usual, effected in an instant, 
and was as suddenly free from pains and disagreeable sensa- 
tions, becoming cheerful, and in the course of half an hour, 
which was spent in clairvoyant experiments, the fever and 
flushed face subsided, and she was the opposite in feelings, 
as well as in appearance, to what she had been but a few 
minutes before. 

She is an excellent clairvoyant, and amused herself in that 
way for some time after I returned home. 

Next day, r*was sent for again, as the symptoms of the 
day before had returned, and although not as severe, were 
more confined to the back, and along the spine to the neck. 

She threw herself into the state, and was again as suddenly 
relieved. This time, however, before she threw herself out 
of the condition, I requested her to make a positive resolu- 
tion that all pains, spasms, and uneasy feelings should sub- 
side, and that she would feel perfectly well when she threw 
herself out of the condition ; and upon my next visit, two 
days after, I found her in fine spirits, and perfectly well. 
She had her shoes on, and a§ she kept her foot in the insen- 
sible condition, she walked about as if nothing had happened. 



OONTEISTTS. 

— — -♦♦* 

CHAPTER I. 

Historical Survey. 

Mesmer not the discoverer of the state — His theory of it- 
Its examination by the French . commissioners — Their 
conclusions — The author's remarks 49 

CHAPTER. II. 

Of the causes which have retarded the progress of the 
science 63 

CHAPTER III. 

Of the conditions necessary for the production of the som- 
nambulic state, with instructions how to enter it, etc 67 

I. — Of the instructor or " operator." 67 

II.— Of the patient 68 

III. — Instructions 69 

IV. — Of the sensations experienced by those who enter 

this state 72 

V. — Of their awaking 73 

CHAPTER lY. 
Theory of this state 75 

CHAPTER V. 

Of the somnambulic proper sleep 81 

I. — Of a partial state of Artificial Somnambulism 83 

CHAPTER VI. 

Phreno-Somnambulism 85 

45 



46 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Of the senses 94 

I. — Motion; or, the power to move 94 

CHAPTER YIIL 

Of the functions of the faculties 96 

I. — Consciousness 97 

IL— Attention 98 

III.— Perception 98 

IV.— Memory 100 

V. — Association 100 

VI. AND VII.— Likes and Dislikes 100 

VIIL— Judgment 101 

IX.— Imagination 103 

• X.— Will 105 

CHAPTER IX. 

Of the peculiar functions of perception in the different facul- 
ties while in a natural state 109 

I. — Of the peculiar functions of perception when in a 

state of Artificial Somnambulism 115 

II. — The functions considered when in a state of Arti- 
ficial Somnambulism 117 

1. — Consciousness 117 

3.— Attention 117 

3.— Perception 119 

4. — Memory 121 

5. — Association 123 

6 and 7. — Likes and Dislikes 123 

8.— Judgment 123 

9. — Imagination 123 

10.— Will 125 

CHAPTER X. 

Of reading or knowing the mind 127 

I. — Illustration 127 

IL— Illustration 129 

Theory of Dr. Collyer 135 

Mental alchemy or electrifying 138 

CHAPTER XL 
I. — Of the identity of other mysteries with this state. ... 141 



CONTENTS. 47 

II. — Of the mysteries practiced by the modern magicians 

of Egypt 144 

III. — Of the "mysterious lady." 157 

IV. — Of the earth mirrors 157 

First earth glass '. 159 

Second earth glass..... .-. 160 

v.— Second sight 161 

VL— Phantasms 163 

CHAPTER XII. 
Transposition of the senses 171 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Natural sleep 183 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Natural Somnambulism 183 

I.— Trance 185 

CHAPTER XV. 
Of intuition 193 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Presentiment or foreknowledge 198 

CHAPTER XVII. 

I. — Of interior prevision 202 

11. — Of exterior prevision 204 

III. — Prophetic dreams 208 

IV.— Witchcraft 208 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Sympathy 210 

I. — Clairvoyance , 215 

Clairvoyance at a distance 221 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Of the sense of hearing 237 

CHAPTER XX. 
Of the senses of smell and taste i 243 



48 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Of the sense of feeling 250 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Of the sense of motion 258 

Of their physical strength 261 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Of the influence of Artificial Somnambulism on the system. 263 

I. — Of its influence upon a healthy subject 263 

II. — Of the influence of Artificial Somnambulism upon 

diseased subjects 266 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Artificial Somnambulism considered as a therapeutic agent. 269 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Of the kinds of disease cured while in this state 287 

I. — Chorea, or St. Vitus's dance 288 

II.— Epilepsy 290 

III. — Dyspepsia 290 

IV.— Intermittent fever 290 

v.— Fever 291 

VI.— Case , 293 

VII. — Inflammatory rheumatism 294 

VIII. — Chronic rheumatism 295 

IX.— Hysteria 296 

X. — Melancholy from unrequited love 296 

XL— Case 297 

XIL— Case 297 

XIIL— Case 298 

XIV. — Contraction of the muscles of the fingers 299 

XV.— Scarlet fever 300 

XVI.— Case 301 

XVIL— Case 306 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Surgical operations 313 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Obstetrical cases 315 

Conclusion 316 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 



CHAPTER I. 

HISTOKICAL SURVEY, 




MKSMEr's theory ITS EXAMINATION BY THE FRENCH COMMIS- 
SIONERS — THEIR CONCLUSIONS THE AUTHOr's REMARKS, ETC. 

i^^T is now well known that Mesmer was not the 
first who discovered what he was pleased to de- 
nominate Animal Magnetism. Its application 
to the cure of diseases had been practised by 
the Gauls, Romans, Greeks, Hebrews, and 
even the Egyptians ; but without attempting to trace 
it back to the more remote periods of antiquity, it 
will be sufficient to remark, that early in the seven- 
teenth century, a celebrated physician, Yan Helmot, 
exhibited a knowledge of it in his writings ; and 
William Maxwell, an Englishman, in sixteen hundred 
and seventy -nine (1679), laid down propositions simi- 
lar to those promulgated by Mesmer. 

About the middle of the same century, several 
other operators appeared in England — a Doctor 
Streper, Leveret, and Yalentine Greatrakes, who 
professed to cure diseases by stroking with the 
hands. 



50 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

Greatrakes was quite celebrated at that time, and 
is said to have performed many cures, which were 
authenticated by the Lord Bishop of Derry, and 
many other respectable individuals. 

. The Eoyal Society also examined into the mystery, 
and accounted for the phenomena by supposing that 
there existed a " sanative contagion in Mr. Greatrakes' 
body, which had an antipathy to some particular 
diseases, and not to others." 

Many other speculations of the kind were at that 
time proclaimed and advocated, which it is not neces- 
sary to notice. Without, therefore, referring to any 
others anterior to the time of Mesmer, I shall now 
give a brief account of his operations. 

Although Mesmer was not the first who discovered 
or applied Somnambulism, or Animal Magn.etism, to 
the cure of diseases, to him is undoubtedly due the 
credit of its revival. 

His first attempts were made in seventeen hundred 
and seventy-three (1773), and soon after, the artful 
misrepresentations of Father Hell and Ingenhouse 
brought it into disrepute ; and Mesmer, almost in de- 
spair, left his native country, and arrived in France 
in seventeen hundred and seventy-eight (1778), where, 
in consequence of the extent to which it was carried 
on in Paris, the French king appointed a committee, 
consisting of four physicians, and five members of the 
Royal Academy of Sciences, to investigate the matter, 
in the year seventeen hundred and eighty-four (1784). 

The former were Borie, Sallin, d'Arcet, and Guil- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 51 

lotin; tlie latter, MM. Bailly, Leroi, de Bory, La- 
voisier, and Dr. Benjamin Franklin, then the Ameri- 
can Minister at Paris. 

Unfortunately for the science, most of the medical 
gentlemen selected to investigate the facts and the 
pretentions of the new doctrine, had pre-judged the 
question, and like too many of the faculty of our 
own time, were resolved not to be convinced. It is 
true, the practice of Mesmer was quackery in the ex- 
treme, for after refusing to sell his secret to the 
French government, which had negotiated with him 
for the purchase of it, he sold it to individuals, re- 
quiring their secrecy, at the rate of one hundred 
louis a head. 

Secrecy, however, was not long maintained, and 
a knowledge of the science was soon propagated and 
widely diffused, with many additions and corruptions 
added by various individuals, according to their re- 
spective fancies or marvellous propensities. 

His theory, however, as published, is as follows : 
He af&rmed that the '^ Animal Magnetic sleep " (som- 
nambulic sleep) was produced by " a fluid univer- 
sally diffused, and filling all space, being the medium 
of a reciprocal influence between the celestial bodies, 
the earth, and living beings ; it insinuated itself into 
the substance of the nerves, upon which, therefore, it 
had a direct operation ; it was capable of being com- 
municated from one body to other bodies, both ani- 
mate and inanimate, and that at a considerable dis- 
tance, without the assistance of any intermediate 



52 AKTIFICIAI, SOMNAMBULISM. 

substance; and it exhibited in the human body some 
properties analogous to those of loadstone — especially 
its two poles. " This — Animal Magnetism," he added, 
" was capable of curing directly all the disorders of 
the nervous system, and indirectly other maladies ; it 
rendered perfect the operation of medicines, and ex- 
cited and directed the salutary crisis in the power of 
the physician. Moreover it enabled him to ascertain 
the state of health of each individual, and to form a 
correct judgment as to the origin, nature, and pro- 
gress of the most complicated diseases, etc." 

Mons. D'Eslon, who was a pupil of Mesmer, also 
practised "Animal Magnetism" at Paris, and nnder- 
took to demonstrate its existence and properties to 
the commissioners, and read a memoir, in which he 
maintained that: "there is but one nature, one dis- 
ease, and one remedy, and that remedy is Animal 
Magnetism." 

Such were the principal theories and opinions 
entertained at that time. The method used by Mes- 
mer and his pupils to induce ^'tlie crms" (or sleep) 
will next occupy our attention. 

Many individuals were operated upon by Mesmer 
and M. D'Eslon, at the same time, and the manner of 
operating is thus described by the commissioners : 

" In the middle of a large room was placed a circu- 
lar chest of oak, raised about a foot from the floor, 
which was called the bequet (or tub) : the lid of this 
chest was pierced with a number of holes, through 
which there issued movable and curved branches of 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 53 

iron. The patients were ranged in several circles 
round tlie chest, each at an iron branch, which, by 
means of its curvature, could be applied directly to 
the diseased part. A cord, which was passed round 
their bodies, connected them with one another, and 
sometimes a second chain of communication was 
formed by means of the hands, the thumbs of each 
one's left hand being received and pressed between 
the forefinger and thumb of the right hand of his 
neighbor. Moreover, a piano-forte was placed in a 
corner of the room, on which different airs were 
played ; sound being, according to the principles of 
Mesmer, a conductor of Magnetism." 

" The patients thus ranged were, besides, directly 
magnetised, by means of the fingers of the magnetiser, 
and a rod of iron, which he moved about before the 
face, above or behind the head, and over the diseased 
parts, always observing the distinction of the magnetic 
poles, and fixing his countenance upon the individual." 

"But, above all, they were magnetised by the 
application of the hands, and by pressure with the 
fingers upon the hypochondria, and abdominal regions, 
which was often continued for a long time, occasion- 
ally for several hours together." 

** The patients subjected to this treatment at length 
began to present various appearances in their condition, 
as the operator proceeded. Some of them were calm 
and tranquil, and felt nothing ; others were affected 
with coughing and spitting ; others again experienced 
slight pains, partial or universal heats, and considera- 



54 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISiT. 

ble perspiration ; and others were agitated and tor- 
tured with convulsions. These convulsions were ex- 
traordinary in their number, severity, and duration ; 
and in some instances lasting for three hours, when 
they were accompanied with expectoration of a viscid 
phlegm, which was ejected by violent efforts and 
sometimes streaked with blood. The convulsions 
w^ere characterized by violent involuntary motions of 
the limbs, and of the whole body, by spasms of the 
throat, by agitations of the epigastrium, and hypo- 
chondres, and wandering motions of the eyes, accom- 
panied by piercing shrieks, weeping, immoderate 
laughter and hiccough." 

They were generally preceded or followed by a 
state of languor and rambling, or a degree of drowsi- 
ness or even coma. The least unexpected noise made 
the patient start, and it was remarked that even a 
change of measure in the air played upon the piano 
forte affected them so that a more lively movement 
increased their agitation, and renewed the violence 
of their convulsions. All seem to be under the power 
of the magnetiser; a sign from him, his voice, his 
look, immediately rouses them from a state even of 
apparent sopor." 

" In truth," added the commissioners, " it was im- 
possible not to recognise in these constant effects, 
great power or agency, which held the patients under 
its dominion, and of which the magnetiser appeared 
to be the sole depository."* 

* Rapport des Commissaires charges par le Roy de 1' Examea 
du maguetisme Animal : a' Paris, 1T84. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 55 

I have extracted the above minute account; not 
only to give an idea of the proceedings at that time, 
but also to show the effects which an individual may 
produce by working upon the minds of those who 
are ignorant of the facts. The convulsions, pains, 
heats, spitting, coughing, and spasms, or the immoder- 
ate laughter, the weeping, shrieking, hiccough, languor 
and coma, etc., were the effects, not of Mesmer's pow- 
ers, or of Magnetism, but of the belief which he had 
instilled into the respective individuals, that such 
effects were necessary. His power over them, too, 
was for the same reason unlimited. I have seen 
many similarly affected who entered this state under 
the care and crude directions of those who practise it 
at the present day ; but I have never seen anything 
of the kind, when the subjects have had a proper 
explanation of the nature of the state before they 
enter it. 

Mesmer called the convulsive or lethargic state — 
the crisis — and erroneously considered it necessary 
for the purpose of curing diseases. But I shall speak 
of this more fully in another chapter. 

" The commissioners remarked, that of the many 
who fell 'into the crisis, most of them were women; 
that the crisis was not effected in less than one or two 
hours, and that when one person was thus taken the 
rest were similarly seized shortly after." 

As the commissioners, however, were unable to ob- 
tain satisfactory results by experimenting upon so 
many at once, they resolved to experiment upon 



56 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

individuals in a state of health, and submitted to the 
process themselves, for three days successively, with- 
out any effect being produced upon any of them. 
They therefore concluded that "magnetism has no 
agency in a state of health, or even in a state of slight 
indisposition." 

Their next trial was upon persons actually diseased ; 
and of fourteen individuals, five experienced some 
effects from the operation, but nine felt none what- 
ever. Of the five who experienced it, three were 
ignorant and poor. The commissioners remarked, at 
the same time, that children, and those who were bet- 
ter able to observe and describe their sensations, felt 
nothing. They therefore thought that the effects 
might be explained by natural causes, and attributed 
the result to the imagination, and next commenced a 
new series of experiments, to determine " how far the 
imagination could influence the sensations, and whether 
it could be the cause of all the phenomena attributed 
to magnetism." 

The commissioners had recourse now to M. Jume- 
lin, who magnetised in the same way with MM. 
Mesmer and D'Eslon, except that he made no dis- 
tinction of the magnetic poles. 

Many experiments were made, and although the 
commissioners were convinced that the imagination 
was capable of producing pain, and a sense of heat, 
etc., yet the effects of Animal Magnetism appeared 
to them more severe, and it was yet to be ascertained 
whether, by influencing the imagination, convulsions 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 57 

or a complete arisis witnessed at the public treatment, 
could be produced. 

To test this point, many experiments were institu- 
ted by the commissioners, thfe result of which seemed 
to convince them ihsit the. imagination snid imitation 
produced precisely the same effects, and that their ex- 
periments were altogether adverse to the principles 
of magnetism, not negatively, but positively and 
directly. 

That the nature and extent of these experiments 
may be better understood by those who have not 
seen an account of them, I will give a few of them 
in detail, with such remarks of my own as the facts 
may render necessary. 

The magnetisers of that day had affirmed "that 
when a tree or even an inanimate substance had been 
touched by them and charged with magnetism, every 
person who stopped near the tree would feel the effects 
of this agent, and either fall into a swoon or into con- 
vulsions." 

"Accordingly, in Doctor Franklin's garden at 
Passy, an apricot tree was selected, which stood 
sufficiently distant from the others, and was well 
adapted for retaining the magnetism communicated 
to it. M. D'Bslon, having brought thither a young 
patient of twelve years of age, was shown the tree, 
which he magnetised, while the patient remained in 
the house, under the observation of another person. 
It was wished that M. D'Eslon should be absent 
during the experiment ; but he affirmed that it might 



58 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

fail; if he did not direct his looks and his cane to- 
wards the tree. The young man was brought out, 
with a bandage over his eyes, and successively led to 
four trees, which were not magnetised^ and was direc- 
ted to embrace each during two minutes ; M. D'Eslon, 
at the same time, standing off a considerable distance, 
and pointing his cane to the tree actually magne- 
tised." 

" At the first tree the young patient, upon being 
questioned, declared that he sweated profusely; he 
coughed and expectorated, and said that he felt pain 
in the head : he was still about twenty-seven feet from 
the magnetised tree. At a second tree, he found him- 
self giddy, with the headache: he was now thirty 
feet from the magnetised tree. At the third the 
giddiness and headache were much increased ; he 
said he believed he was approaching the magnetised 
tree; but was still twenty-eight feet from it. At 
length, when brought to the fourth tree, not magne- 
tised, and at a distance of twenty-four feet from that 
which was, the crisis came on ; the young man fell 
down, in a state of insensibility, his limbs became 
rigid, he was carried to a grass field, where M. D'Es- 
lon went to his assistance and restored him." 

In another experiment " M. D'Eslon was requested 
to select from among his poor patients, those who 
had shown the greatest sensibility to the magnetism ; 
and he accordingly brought two women to Passy. 
While he was magnetising — Doctor Franklin and 
several persons in another apartment — the two women 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 59 

were, put in separate rooms. Three of the commis- 
sioners remained with one of the women, the first to 
question her, the second to write and the third to 
represent M. D'Eslon, who (they persuaded her, after 
bandaging her eyes) was brought into the room to 
magnetise her. One of them pretended to speak to 
M. D'Eslon, requesting him to begin ; hut nothing was 
done ; the commissioners remained quiet, only observ- 
ing the woman." 

" In the space of three minutes she began to feel a 
nervous shivering (frisson nerveux); then she felt in 
succession, a pain in the head and in the arms, and a 
pricking in the hands ; she became stiff, struck her 
hands together, got up from her seat, and stamped 
with her feet — in a word the crisis was completely 
characterised." 

" Two of the commissioners were in an adjoining 
room with the other woman, whom they placed by 
the door, which was shut, with her eyes at liberty, 
and made her believe that M. D'Eslon was on the 
other side of the door, magnetising her. She had 
scarcely been seated a minute before the door, when 
a shivering began ; in one minute more she had a 
clattering of the teeth, but yet a general warmth 
over the body ; and by the end of three minutes the 
crisis was complete. The breathing became hurried, 
she stretched out her arms behind her back, writhing 
them strongly, and bending the body forward ; a 
general tremor of the whole body came on, the clatter- 
ing of the teeth was so loud as to be heard out of the 



60 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

room, and she bit lier hand so as to leave the marks 
of her teeth in it." 

With respect to the first experiment, the commis- 
sioners remarked, " that if the patient had experienced 
no effects under the tree actually magnetised, it might 
have been supposed that he was not in a state of 
sufficient susceptibility ; but he fell into the crisis un- 
der one which was not magnetised; therefore, not 
from any external physical cause, but solely from the 
influence of the imagination. He knew that he was 
to be carried to the magnetised tree ; his imagination 
was roused, and successively exalted, until at the 
fourth tree it had risen to the pitch necessary to bring 
on the crisis^ 

This reasoning, at first sight, seems very natural 
and conclusive ; but with due deference, I must say 
that it is very far from the truth ; and the experi- 
ments only prove that magnetism is not the cause of 
this state, and nothing more. 

I contend that it was not the imagination (in the 
strict sense of the word) which threw the above per- 
sons into that condition. 

The young man, who was led blindfolded to the 
different trees, was made to believe that if he em- 
braced a tree, or anything else which was, as they 
said, magnetised, he would fall into this state. What 
was the result ? He fell into it before he reached 
the tree which was said to be so operated upon. Yet 
this does not prove conclusively that it was his imagi- 
nation which produced that effect. 



AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 61 

I have instituted many experiments to determine 
the cause of this condition, and all the facts gathered 
go to prove that the state can be entered by an act 
of the subject's own will, or can be induced by the 
belief (on the part of the subject) that another person 
has the power of throwing him into it. Therefore, in 
the case of the boy above alluded to, the belief, or 
even the suspicion, on his part, that the tree {whether 
magnetised or not) would have such effects, was suffi- 
cient to make him enter it — he not knowing that he 
could resist or enter it at pleasure ; consequently he 
fell into it, as a matter of course, at the tree, which he 
thought or believed to be magnetised. 

The same was the case with the two women. But 
if they had been acquainted with the true nature of 
the state, and their powers to resist, etc., neither the 
tree, the operator, nor the deceptions practised, would 
have had any effect upon them ; and if the commis- 
sioners had known that it was in the power of these 
individuals to throw themselves into this state at willj 
independent of any person or any foreign cause, their 
conclusions would have been very different. 

The experiments of the commissioners prove, most 
conclusively, that magnetism has no agency in pro- 
ducing this condition — indeed, that there is no such 
thing in nature as animal magnetism, and that conse- 
quently it cannot be communicated to anything else, 
and that the effects ascribed to it were absolutely the 
result of a belief that certain effects would follow cer- 
tain operations, and not the effects of any foreign 
cause ; and until the miserable belief in a magnetic 



62 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

fluid is abandoned or eradicated from the mind of 
man, we will have unnecessary sufifering, and the 
world will be deprived of the superior benefits which 
a properly directed mind (while in a somnambulic 
condition) would have upon disease. 

This is the grand secret of curing diseases, and all 
that has ever been effected by entering this condition, 
has been effected by the mind of the subject while in 
that state — not knowingly, however, but in many 
cases by bringing the mind accidentally to bear upon 
it. How much more ought we to expect under the 
proper management of the mind while in that condi- 
tion ? The sooner, therefore, that we do away with 
all passes and useless operations of every kind, the 
sooner we will act like rational beings and reap the 
benefits of a regenerated science. 

At the time when Mesmer revived the science the 
magnetisers, as well as the world at large, knew 
very little about the science, or the extraordinary 
phenomena, powers, etc., belonging or peculiar to 
persons in that state, and their experiments were 
made to ascertain its cause before they knew its 
effects. This has, unfortunately for the science, been 
the case with most experimenters from that time 
until the present day, and many other theories, 
equally untrue and unfounded, have, phoenix-like, 
arisen and are still supported by their respective ad- 
herents. It is not my intention, however, to examine 
any more of them particularly, as the facts, which I 
shall present to the reader in this work, will render 
it unnecessary. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 63 




-i 



CHAPTEK II. 

OF THE CAUSES WHICH HAVE RETARDED THE PRO- 
GRESS OF THE SCIENCE. 

HE causes which have retarded the progress of 
the science are very numerous, and among the 
number which stand most conspicuous are 

^^ the many misrepresentations which have been 
made, both by its friends and its foes. 

It is not to be denied that its foes have in many 
instances stooped to falsehood and wilful misrepre- 
sentations, while it is also true that its friends, in 
their enthusiasm, reported appearances as facts, no 
matter how contradictory they were in themselves, 
or how unreasonable they might appear to those wso 
would scrutinize them with different views. 

It is chiefly to these causes that I ascribe most of 
the difficulties which have arisen, and the torrents of 
ridicule which have been at different periods 
showered upon the devoted heads of those who have 
advocated the science. 

I am aware that this has been the case with all the 
other sciences already established, but is it the best, 
most correct and speedy method of seeking for the 
truth ? I think not ; and it seems to me that before 
a j)Ostulatum is condemned; it ought to be thoroughly 



64 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

examined* and tbat in the investigation of a new 
science, it is absolutely necessary first to make our- 
selves acquainted with the facts, and to examine them 
individually and collectively with the utmost care, 
before we can arrive at conclusions with that degree 
of certainty which the truth, in its might, always 
renders self-evident, and leads us, as it were uncon- 
sciously, to that system which the God of Nature has 
established from the foundation of the world. 

Had investigators, generally, confined themselves 
strictly to facts, instead of framing theories as vision- 
ary as they were often false, there would have been 
less confusion and fewer marks for the shafts of ridi- 
cule; and the sciences, instead of being retarded, 
would have flourished at every step, and mankind 
much sooner reaped the benefits which they were 
destined to confer. 

These remarks apply themselves particularly to 
the science of Artificial Somnambulism, which of all 
others^ is perhaps the most prolific in phenomena, of 
so mj^sterious and unaccountable a nature, that the 
study of its peculiarities has been rendered doubly 
dif&cult, not only on account of numbers, but the ap- 
parent contradictions which have been exhibited by 
different subjects, or the same subjects at different 
times, together with the obscurity which the ignorant 
and superstitious have thrown around it, rendering it 
still more difficult to distinsfuish those facts which 
alone could lead to correct conclusions. Many things, 
too, have been laid at the door of this science which 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 6i> 

do not belong to it, and respectively have also created 
many difficulties wliicli will have to be refuted before 
the science can be brought before the world in its 
true light, and the community induced to look upon 
it with that consideration which it truly deserves. 

It is not an easy matter for skeptical persons to get 
the necessary proofs to convince them of the truth of 
the science, as subjects, who enter this state under the 
care of another, cannot often be persuaded to perform 
experiments to please those whom they may not even 
take an interest in pleasing when awake, much less 
so when thev are in this state, with all their powers 
active ; particularly their capability of reading the 
mind, by which they learn the motives which actuate 
and the doubts which exist and are naturally always 
uppermost in their minds. They cannot, in the face 
of all this, be persuaded to give such persons satis- 
faction. 

I am aware that skeptics do not believe that they 
have such powers, but their unbelief does not make 
it the less true ; and I can assure them that they 
never will get satisfaction unless they experiment 
themselves, and throw aside all prejudice and investi- 
gate the matter, as they would any other science; 
purely for the love of truth. 

As all the phenomena are extraordinary in their 
nature, they must be seen to be believed. It is there- 
fore impossible for one man to convince every one, 
and although I have convinced thousands, there are 
still thousands who disbelieve, because they have not 



66 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

had the same opportunities and explanations. I have 
been hooted at, decried as a charlatan, a wizzard, and 
a fool — ^yet day after day I have also had the satis- 
faction of seeing these very wise opposers convinced 
of its truth, and obliged to ask for the very knowledge 
which at one time they seemed so heartily to despise. 
Such is the power of truth, which, sooner or later, 
must prevail. 

I have been told by some persons that they had 
the utmost horror of the state, and utterly despised 
the science. And why ? They could give no reason 
or even say in what particular it had offended their 
delicacy. They were simply prejudiced — utterly ig- 
norant of its nature and wilfully blind to its benefits, 
and opposed it because it was something they did 
not understand. 

Every man has a right to doubt, and I yield every 
one that privilege ; but we have no right to anticipate 
and form prejudices before we have examined the 
matter for ourselves. 

Every new science is liable to misrepresentation, 
and, although we may not at first be able to under- 
stand it, we should not unhesitatingly say that it is 
untrue because we cannot fathom it at a glance, or 
reconcile it to our previous notions. Every thing 
is plain and palpable when properly understood, and 
we should rather always patiently await its elucida- 
tion, than hazard an opinion, or run the risk, not 
only of making ourselves ridiculous, but of retarding, 
by our opinions, the progress of a science which in 
time ^^'•^v become useful. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 67 




^ CHAPTER III. 

OF THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR THE PRODUCTION 
OF THE ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULIC STATE. 

I ITCH has been said about tlie conditions neces- 
sary to produce this state, and I am sorry 
that I must differ from all that has been 
written upon this subject. 

I. — OF THE INSTRUCTOR OR OPERATOR. 

From what has been said, the reader must already 
know that the " operator " has no power to produce 
this condition ; and independent of his instructions, 
and his capability of managing them while in it, has 
nothing to do with it. 

His health, temperament, age, etc., as a matter of 
course, is also immaterial, so that his intelligence, 
mental character, and knowledge be of such a nature 
as to be worthy of the trust placed in him. 

His skill in managing persons and curing diseases, 
etc., will depend entirely upon his knowledge of the 
state, his acquaintance with the nature of diseases, and 
his intelligence and tact in fixing and properly di- 
recting the minds of his patients. 

Physicians are best calculated for this purpose, and 
should always be preferred if they have made the 
subject their study. 



68 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

11. — OF THE PATIENT. 

I have never found any perceptible difference in 
wliat has been called the susceptibility of persons of 
different temperaments, and have had as many of the 
Bilious, Bilious N'ervous, or Bilious Nervous San- 
guine to enter it, as of any of the other temperaments. 

Too much stress has been laid upon this subject by 
those who have heretofore written upon it, no doubt 
from an anxiety to account for the failures which 
they often experienced ; and I again repeat that I 
have found no material difference in this respect 
which would induce me to believe that it was pro- 
duced by a difference in the temperaments, nor have 
I observed much difference between the readiness 
with which it is entered by the different sexes. I 
have found some men of opposite temperaments to 
enter this state more readily than some women of the 
same temperaments, and vice versa, and believe that 
what is termed susceptibility, or a readiness to enter 
it, depends more upon the state of the subjecfs mind at 
the time of trial, than upon sex, temperament, or 
phrenological developments, etc. 

Noise, being afraid of it, an over anxiety to enter 
it, risibility, and in fact any other mental excitement, 
is unfavorable to its accomplishment, and should al- 
ways be avoided as much as possible. 

Yery old persons, and children under eight or ten 
years, from a want of sufS.cient steadiness, knowledge 
and determination, cannot often be induced to enter 
it perfectly. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMN'AMBULISM. 69 

III. — INSTRUCTIONS. 

Various methods have been employed by different 
operators to induce this state. The plan adopted and 
practised by Mesmer and his pupils has already been 
detailed in a preceding chapter of this work. Those 
of modern magnetizers are scarcely less absurd 
than that employed by Mesmer and his immediate 
followers. 

Some operator^ of the present day, who believe in 
a magnetic influence, still pursue the ludicrous method 
of sitting down opposite to the patient, holding hia 
thumbs, staring into his eyes, and making passes, etc., 
until the desired object is effected. 

Others, who believe looking to be essential, direct 
the patient to look at some object intently until the 
lids close and the patient becomes unconscious. 

Yery few, however, can be induced to enter the 
state in any of the above ways, and those who do, 
usually fall into the sleeping condition of this state, 
and are generally dull, listless, and seldom good 
clairvoyants. 

The most rational, certain, and pleasant way of in- 
ducing this state which I have discovered, is the fol- 
lowing : 

When persons are desirous of entering this state, 
I place them upon a chair where they may be at per- 
fect ease. I then request them to close the eyes at 
once, and to remain perfectly calm at the same time 
that they let the body lie perfectly still and relaxed. 
Thev are next instructed to throw their minds to 



70 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

some familiar place — it matters not wliere, so that 
they have been there before and seem desirous of 
going there again, even in thought. When they 
have thrown the mind to the place, or upon the de- 
sired object, I endeavor, by speaking to them fre- 
quently, to keep their mind upon it ; viz. : I usually 
request them to place themselves (in thought) close 
to the object or person they are endeavoring to see, 
as if they were really there, and urge them to keep 
the mind steady, or to form an image or picture of 
the person or thing in their mind, which they must 
then endeavor to see. This must be persevered in 
for some time, and when they tire of one thing, or see 
nothing, they must be directed to others successively, 
as above directed, until clairvoyancy is induced. 
When this has been effected the rest of the senses fall 
into the state at once or by slow degrees — often one 
after another, as they are exercised or not — sometimes 
only one sense is affected during the first sitting. If 
the attention of the subject is divided, the difficulty 
of entering the state perfectly is much increased, and 
the powers of each sense while in this state will be in 
proportion as that division has been much or little. 

Almost every subject requires peculiar manage- 
ment, which can only be learned by experience or a 
knowledge of their character, etc. Much patience 
and perseverance is often required to effect it ; but if 
both be sufficiently exercised, the result will always 
be satisfactory — if not in one sitting, in two or more. 
I have had several to enter this condition after 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 71 

twenty (20) sittings, and had them to say " that if 
they had not interfered, and let things take their 
course, they would have fallen into it in the first 
sitting." This shows that those who do not enter 
it in one or two sittings, must do something to 
prevent it. 

Many persons have entered the state in the above 
manner who could not do so in any other, although 
repeated trials had been made to effect it. 

Taking hold of the thumbs and looking into the 
eye, or at any other object particularly, is hy no 
means necessary ; and as this state is one that depends 
entirely upon the state of the subject's mind, and is 
brought about by an act of his own will and not by 
that of the operator's, it must be evident to every in- 
telligent mind that all that the operator can do, inde- 
pendent of the instructions which he may give, or the 
care he may take of them, etc., is perfectly useless 
and ought to be dispensed with. 

I have found that persons always enter this state 
better without any contact, looking, passes, or any 
thing of the kind, particularly when they are assured 
that they have some competent person to take care 
of and to converse with them while in it ; and, by 
observing carefully the instructions which I have 
given, it is possible for any person to throw themselves 
into this state at pleasure, independent of any one ; but 
it might not always be prudent to do so for the first 
time, for some, upon entering the condition for the first 
time^ become unconscious of all that is passing 



72 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

around tliem; and if such persons were to throw 
themselves into it independent of any one, and had 
not consented, or made up their minds before enter- 
ing it, to hear or to speak to some one, it is most 
likely that when in it and spoken to, they would not 
hear any one, and in all probability would sleep for 
a longer or shorter time, without doing anything, 
and when they did awake, would remember nothing 
and scarcely know that they had been in it at all. Or 
they might get up and wander about, as is sometimes 
done by natural somnambulists, and unknowingly get 
into difficulties, or meet with some accident which 
might not be very agreeable when they awoke. 

It is, therefore, always better for those who wish 
to enter it to place themselves under the care of some 
one ; and he who understands the nature of the state 
best, and has had the most experience in its manage- 
ment, is the best calculated for this purpose. When 
they have entered the state frequently, and have had 
the proper instructions while in it, the case is very 
different ; they are then able to move about with as 
much certainty and safety as if they were awake. 

lY. OF THE SENSATIONS EXPERIENCED BY THOSE WHO ENTER 

THIS STATE. 

The sensations experienced by those who enter 
this state are variously described by different subjects ; 
but most commonly they agree that after the eyes are 
closed, and they have been endeavoring to see for a 
longer or shorter period, a drowsiness ensues, accom- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 73 

pariied with more or less '' swimming of the head," 
and a tingling sensation creeping over the whole 
body. 

Some experience a feeling of sinking down as if 
they were passing through the floor ; others, again, 
feel light as a feather, and seem to ascend or to be 
suspended in air. Some start and twitch involunta- 
rily in various parts of the body, while in others the 
breathing is more or less affected, but there is no ne- 
cessity for their feeling unpleasant in any way. Some 
feel warm, others cold, but none of the sensations are 
described as being unpleasant ; and when the state is 
entered perfectly the feelings are said to be delightful. 

"V. — OF THEIR AWAKENING. 

AH that is needful, when it becomes necessary that 
they should awake, is to ask them whether they are 
ready or willing to do so, and if they are, I direct 
them to do so at once, and they will awake at the 
word Now ! in an instant. 

If, however, you should desire to awaken them, and 
they are not willing, it will be found impossible to 
do so contrary to their will, and you will be obliged 
to await their pleasure. 

Before they awake, however, I commonly request 
them to remember how they felt and what they saw, 
etc., or they may not know anything about it when 
they do awake ; particularly if it be their first sitting. 
With some this is not necessary after the nrst or 
second sitting, as they commonly make up their 



74 ARTIFICIAL SOMITAMBULISM. 

minds to do so of their own accord. Yet I have seen 
some with whom it was always necessary ; indeed, I 
have two subjects with whom I have the greatest 
difficulty when asleep to persuade them to remember 
anything. Yet when they awake they are much 
mortified at not having any recollection of what has 
transpired; and it seems as if it were impossible for 
them to carry the resolution to do so into that state, 
and when in it, to resolve to remember when they 
awake. 

Others, on the contrary, have the power of remem- 
bering whatever they please, or of forgetting what 
they please ; or, in other words, they can remember 
all that has transpired, only a part of it, or nothing 
at all, as they may feel disposed at the time. 

This quality or power of the mind while in this 
condition, enables them to create pain or feel pleas- 
ant at will, and if they imagine, or determine, that 
there is, or shall be pain or disease in any part of 
the body, that pain or disease will certainly be felt, 
at the time and place designated, and will continue 
until the mind acts, or is directed so as to alter the 
condition. This peculiar power of the mind while in 
this state, I have taken advantage of to cure dis- 
eases, and if the mind be properly directed while in 
this state, so as to make them resolve to be well, 
pains, contracted habits or diseases are removed by 
an act of their will, as if by magic, and will last 
until the conditions are changed or altered by influ- 
encing causes, or by a positive act of the subject's will. 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 75 




CHAPTEE 17. 

THEORY OF THIS STATE. 

'HE agent or cause of this state (as I have be 
fore intimated) has been ascribed by different 
writers to Animal Magnetism, Mineral Magne- 
tism, Electricity, Galvanism, a Nervous Fluid, 
and iiaally to Kervous Induction or Sympa- 
thy, etc. But as I have before stated that it is not 
my intention to examine any more of the theories in 
detail, I shall here only (as it is the latest) briefly 
notice that of Sympathy. 

In a letter addressed to the Editor of the " Lancas- 
ter Intelligencer and Journal," dated October six- 
teenth, eighteen hundred and forty-three (1843), and 
published in that paper the following week, I gave 
my views respecting the agent, in (what has been 
called) "Animal Magnetism;" and after expressing 
that I was fully aware that they differed from every 
other theory extant, and trusting that they would be 
as near the truth as reasoning from the facts collec- 
tively would admit, I go on to say, in refutation of 
the theory of Sympathy, that : " I have long since 
proved that when a person enters this state, he does 
so independent of the operator, his passes, or his will, 
and while in this state is independent of him, in every 



76 AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

sense of the word, and, if lie feels disposed, can resist 
him. in every possible way. He can feel different, 
have different tastes, hold other views, and it is only 
hy consent that the subject hears him at all, or does any- 
thing he requests. It is true, that some subjects do 
apparently exhibit signs of sympathy with the opera- 
tor, and will taste what he tastes, feel what he feels, 
or even think as he will, etc., but they can do the 
same things with any other person as well as with 
the operator, although he may, at the same time, will 
them to do the contrary as much as he pleases. If 
they do not wish to perform an experiment, the 
operator has as little influence over them as any 
other person, and if they are not paying attention to 
him, it is always necessary for him to draw their 
attention before he can succeed in any of his experi- 
ments. 

If this state were induced by sympathy, or they 
were more in sympathy with him than with any per- 
son else, this would not be necessary, as they would 
then always be obliged to think, feel, taste, etc., as he 
did, or as he willed them. It is not sympathy, there- 
fore, which influences or enables them to taste, feel, 
or know what the operator or other persons are 
tasting, smelling, or willing, etc., but is owing to a 
pe^iuliar power which they possess while in the state 
of translating their faculties at will, or of reading the 
mind, not only of the operator, but of any person else, 
no matto! whether they be in the room or not at the 
time." 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 77 

"Again — the author of the sympathetic theory 
claims the power of Magnetising or paralyzing arms, 
etc.; and ascribes the power to the same cause, viz.: 
Sympathy." 

" I have apparently done the same thing years ago — 
but it was not by Sympathy, or any other influence 
or power exercised, derived, or, emanating from me, 
for I have seen subjects (while perfectly awake) 
paralyze their own arms to perfection, without the aid 
of any operator at all. They not only put their own 
arms to sleep, but awake them at pleasure, in part or 
the whole at once, according to the nature of the ex- 
periment, which they wished to perform. Where, I 
would ask, was the Sympathy derived from in these 
cases ?" 

In concluding the same letter, I remarked : " That 
this state was a peculiar one {Somnus a voluntate) 
independent of Magnetism, Electricity, Galvanism, a 
Nervous Fluid, Sympathy, or anything of the kind, 
and was entered by the subject at pleasure. That 
it was a state into which any person could throw 
themselves, and awaken themselves, either in part or 
the whole body at once, slowly or otherwise, inde- 
pendent of any one else, or subject to any 
one's control." 

In a second letter to the editor, on the same sub- 
ject, dated November ninth, eighteen hundred and 
forty-three (1843), I stated, in addition to what I 
said in my first letter, that : ''I considered this state 
similar to Somnambulism ; Somnambulism being the 



78 • ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

natural state, and this one the artificial — effected bj 
the motives or will of the subject." 

In a letter upon the same subject, to the Editor of 
the Philadelphia " Spirit of the Times," dated Novem 
ber twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and forty-three 
(1843), and published in that paper on the second of 
December following, I stated, in speaking of the 
lectures at Lowell, by the author of the sympathetic 
theory, that : " I am sorry to see that this talented 
gentleman has again let his imagination run away 
with his better judgment, and I can assure you that 
his very learned and beautiful theory of sympathy, is 
as far from the truth as that which he has just 
deserted. 

Were you with me a few days I could prove this 
to your perfect satisfaction, but as I can scarcely 
hope for this pleasure, I must be content to give 
you a brief statement of facts : I have had over three 
hundred different individuals to enter this state under 
my care, and have found by innumerable experiments 
that they are entirely independent of me, and can 
enter this state and awaken themselves whenever 
they please, notwithstanding all I can do to the 
contrary. 

They can throw the whole or any part of the body 
into this state at pleasure, and I have seen many do 
it in an instant, or before it would be possible for 
you to enumerate ten. 1 have had them to throw in 
a single finger, a hand, an arm, the whole brain, or 
even a single organ (or portion), and awake them at 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 79 

pleasure." After giving an account of some new 
experiments on tlie organs of the brain, etc., which 
I shall notice in another chapter, I go on to say 
that: "I have lately had all those subjects, who 
before gave no evidence to the touch, to respond to 
the organs, by simply directing them to throw their 
minds upon those portions of brain which I desig- 
nated. This, of itself, is sufficient to refute the 
doctrines of Magnetism, ISTeurology and Sympathy." 

" The author of the sympathetic theory has deceived 
himself, and his experiments are calculated to deceive 
any person who is not acquainted with the facts. 
Belief or even a suspicion^ that an operator has or 
may have an influence over them, is often sufficient 
to make persons ignorant of the facts susceptible, 
and if they do not resist it, they will fall into it of 
their own accord^ as easily as into a natural sleep." 

^' 1 have had many to fall into this sleep — and some 
who were seemingly determined not to do so — by 
simply stating that at a certain time I would mag- 
netise all in the room, although I was thinking of 
other things, and did nothing but walk up and 
down." ^ 

" This is the same that the author of the sympa- 
thetic theory has done on a large scale, and any 
person can do the same thing, if he can make the 
subjects believe, or even imagine, that they have the 
power to produce such effects. All that is necessary 
IS to establish the belief that an operator has com- 
plete control over him, and that he must sympathise 



80 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

witli him when asleep, and tlie operator will have 
this power over him ; but, let the same subject know 
the facts, before he enters the state, and the operator 
will soon find that his powers are airy nothings, and 
that he was before only obeyed, because the subject 
blindly consented. They can cast ojff the operator 
entirely, and prefer another person at pleasure, inde- 
pendent of any one." 

" I am sorry that I am obliged to rob the many 
scientific gentlemen who are engaged in this science, 
of their imaginary powers, but it is high time that 
the veil should be drawn, and the mystery or witchery 
of the matter done away." 

The facts, therefore, warrant and bear me out in 
saying, that this state is nothing more than artificial 
somnambulism effected by the motives or will of the 
subject, and not by any foreign cause, power, influence, 
or sympathy whatever. 



; I 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 81 




CHAPTEE Y. 

OF A SOMNAMBULIC PROPER SLEEP. 

HE somnambulic state has also its own sleep 
or condition of perfect rest; in which all the 
faculties are sometimes wrapped, and I have 
frequently been obliged to indulge subjects 
in what they call "sleep," while in the waking 
condition of this state. They seem to be able to fall 
into this unconscious sleep at pleasure, and frequently 
have to be aroused, as out of a natural sleep. When 
aroused, however, they awake into the somnambulic 
and not into the natural state. 

It is into this species of the somnambulic state, 
that most subjects fall when they are not spoken to, 
or disturbed, before they are known to have entered 
the state, particularly when it is their first sitting, 
and out of which they are aroused, when addressed 
by the person into whose care they have entrusted 
themselves. 

It is into this state also which they occasionally 
fall, when they have been too much worried by ex- 
periments, and is the unconscious state which I have 
spoken of as their sleep. 

It is evident, therefore, that this state has also two 
conditions, viz. : A waking state and a sleeping state. 



82 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

Tbe former may be entered; without losing or for- 
getting themselves, and is generally entered first, 
particularly when the patient has been frequently 
spoken to while entering it. 

The latter cannot be entered without losing or 
forgetting themselves, and is the state into which 
many subjects usually fall when not spoken t*o, while 
entering it, and out of which they would sooner or 
later awake, without any knowledge of having been 
in it, if not spoken to during the sleep. 

I. — A PARTIAL STATE OF ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

It is generally expected that all persons who 
are said to be in this state shall exhibit the same 
phenomena. 

This is true, so far as the state is perfect, but it 
must be remembered that all do not enter this state 
perfectly at the first sitting, and that there is such a 
thing as a partial state, in which only one, two or 
more of the senses are effected at the same time, 
while the rest remain in their natural condition, and 
of course cannot exhibit the peculiar phenomena 
which they are capable of when such senses are 
truly in this state. 

I have seen many cases in which the eye-lids only 
were effected ; sometimes only one or more of the 
senses, etc. 

Many remarkable cases have come under my 
observation, one of which I will here relate : 

Miss had entered this state, but imperfectly 



ARTIFICIAL SOMlN^AMBULISM. 83 

several times, and her appearance, wliile in this semi- 
state, was such that one would be induced to believe 
that it was perfect — and while in it, heard no one, 
(independent of myself,) was insensible to pain, yet 
Avith her eyes bandaged, or when I stood behind her, 
would imitate me, or place her hands and fingers in 
every possible position which I chose to place mine, 
but as soon as spoken to by me, would wake, even 
at the first word addressed to her, remembering 
nothing that had passed nor aught that she had done. 

This case is remarkable for her not being able to 
remain in the state when spoken to by me. She 
heard no one else, because her attention was directed 
entirely to me, and was insensible to pain, because 
her mind was completely so engaged. 

That she saw, or was able to read my mind, was 
evident, or she could not have imitated my motions, 
etc., with her eyes perfectly bandaged. Her awaking, 
when spoken to by me, seemed to be irresistible, 
and was so sudden that she could not be persuaded 
to remember what had taken place before she was 
perfectly awake. After a proper explanation of the 
state had been made to her, she entered it perfectly, 
and is now an excellent clairvoyant, and can be 
spoken to, etc., without waking until she is ready. 

Some subjects are not clairvoyant, although they 
are perfectly in the state, and their not seeing in such 
cases is owing to their not knowing how to direct 
their mind, or their having no disposition to try. I 
have, however, succeeded in getting many to see who 



84 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

otherwise would not have done so, by persevering 
until I persuaded them to try, and instructing them 
to throw their minds to certain places where they 
were acquainted, or to hunt up certain individuals 
whom they were most anxious to see. 

The reason whv certain senses do not enter this 
state is owing to their not having been given up to 
it, or, to a natural or constitutional wakefulness, 
which, however, I am persuaded can be overcome in 
all cases by perseverance, and a fixed determination 
on the part of the subjects themselves. 

I have seen several subjects who had frequently 
been in the state on former occasions, that for a 
time seemed to have lost the art, and could not enter 
it again, although they had made many trials to 
effect it. 

The reason why they could not enter it on these 
occasions, was: Because they had something else 
upon their minds, and were too impatient or anxious 
to sit down with sufficient calmness to re-enter it. 
They have all, however, again succeeded by following 
the proper instructions, and by noticing particularly 
the manner in which they re-entered it, have since 
been enabled to enter it at pleasure. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 85 




CHAPTER YI. 

PHRENO-SOMNAMBULISM. 

USE this term to express tlie somnambulic 
state induced bj any subject; in one or more 
of the organs, faculties or functions of bis own 
brain ; or the putting to sleep or awaking the 
various portions of the brain by the subject 
himself for phrenological purposes, etc. 

I have met with some persons who possess the 
power of exciting any portion of their own brain 
at pleasure, even in an instant, although they have 
never been wholly in a somnambulic state, and at the 
time of an experiment, to a casual observer would 
seem to be perfectly awake, or in a natural state, 
and, indeed, are so, immediately before and after the 
experiment, but at the instant, or during the time of 
the experiment, the brain, or a certain portion of it, is 
in the somnambulic state.^. These subjects can also 
perform clairvoyant experiments at pleasure, as well 
as if the whole body were in a somnambulic state — 
consequently the mind, or a certain portion of the 
train is in the same condition. These cases, however, 
are rare, and when met by neurologists or sympa- 
thetic operators, furnish good subjects for their impo- 
sitions ; because these subjects, by merely knowing 



86 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

that they have the power themselves, can excite any 
of their own organs at will, independent of any 
operator, and therefore have been imposed npon. 

Many public and apparently successful demon- 
strations of exciting the organs by the touch 
have been given by various operators, to prove the 
existence of this power in themselves ; which I am 
sorry to find has been generally credited by those 
who believe in the science of Phrenology. Many, 
indeed, were made converts upon the very grounds 
of this belief, and the experiments of Dr. Buchanan 
upon the supposed impressible subject, seems, in most 
cases, to have warranted their conclusions. 

Although a believer in the general principles-of 
Phrenology, I have always been disappointed in my 
experiments, instituted to test the possibility of ex- 
citing the organs of the brain hy the touch, in persons 
who were in a state of artificial somnambulism. 

It is true, I have had many subjects to respond to 
some of the organs, but at least two-thirds never 
responded at all ; and in almost all those who did, I 
could trace the effects to some positive knowledge of 
Phrenology on their p^t. Others again would 
respond to an organ correctly at one time, and hesi- 
tatingly or incorrectly at another. Some who were 
made to believe that the organ of benevolence was 
situated on the back part of the head ; or where the 
organ of self-esteem is located, in after times, upon 
touching that point, would respond to the organ 
of benevolence ; and so with all the other organs 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 87 

respectively ; they would respond as they were taught, 
or as the intimation had been originally received. 
These facts led me to investigate the cause. 

I never doubted the action of the organs themselves, 
or that the proper portion of brain did not act within 
the skull, when any evidence was outwardly mani- 
fested; but I could not reconcile the facts at that 
time, or tell the reason why an organ did not always 
act when the proper locality was outwardly touched. 
I shall not here relate the numerous experiments 
which I made, or the many difficulties I had to en- 
counter before I arrived at conclusions which were 
satisfactory to myself. It will be sufficient to say 
that my experiments upon those who gave no evi- 
dence of excitement from the touch, has been very 
extensive, and I found that almost all^ particularly 
those who were intelligent, responded to the organs 
by simply directing them to throw their minds upon 
those portions of the brain which I designated. 

This fact explains the whole mystery of the touch. 
or of the nervous fluid, influence, or whatever else it 
may be called, which was supposed to penetrate the 
skull and to excite the brain. The truth, therefore, 
is self-evident, that the excitement was produced by 
the subjects themselves, and not by the operator. 
Those subjects who responded to the touch correctly, 
in the old method of exciting the organs, I am satis- 
fied must have thrown their minds upon those 
portions of the brain, beneath the fingers of the 
operator, and thus have excited their organs, while 



88 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

the reverse must have been the case with those who 
gave no evidence of excitement at all. Some, I am 
also convinced, received their information of what 
he operator desired from his own mind, and res- 
ponded accordingly, particularly in those cases where 
the organ was not touched, and merely pointed at. 

These were my first solutions of the difficulty re- 
spectiug the touch ; but I have still another method of 
proving the falsity of the doctrines of Neurology and 
Sympathy, etc., and of establishing the general princi- 
ples which have been promulgated by phrenologists. 

I have already stated, that most subjects can be 
taught to throw a finger, an arm, or the whole body 
into this state at pleasure. I will now add, that they 
can also throw in the whole brain — the half thereof, 
or even a single organ, or portion, and awaken either 
at pleasure, independent of any one. This fact which 
I published in eighteen hundred and forty -three 
(1843), in the Philadelphia "Spirit of the Times," I 
have since had many opportunities of confirming. 
It is true, some have considerable difficulty at first, 
but when the subject is intelligent and himself anxious 
to succeed, the power to do so is soon acquired. Some, 
as I have before stated, are enabled to do so when every 
other part of the body is perfectly awake ; but as a 
general thing, when the experiments are continued for 
any length of time, the body also sinks into the condi- 
tion, but can be aroused by the subject at pleasure, 
and mostly is so at the close of every experiment. 

In my letter to the editor of the paper above 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 89 

al laded to, and from which I make the following 
extract, I stated that: "I have had some subjects to 
throw the whole brain into a somnambulic state, and 
then successively to awaken one portion of the brain 
after another, while I noted the results in each case, 
until the whole brain was in a natural condition. 

" These experi=ments are the most interesting I 
have ever made ; and the results have been the most 
extraordinary I ever witnessed. 

" To give you an idea of these experiments and their 
results, I will state, that when the brain is in this 
peculiar state and I request them to awaken an 
organ, which I point out by stating its position — say 
Language for example — and then give them (into 
their hand) some familiar article — a watch, a knife, or 
a key, etc., it will be impossible for them to name it, 
as' long as that organ is kept awake. 

" They know what it is, its use, size, weight, color, 
and configuration, etc., but they cannot name it. 

'* If I direct them to awaken Tune only, they can- 
not then distinguish between tones, or recognize the 
most familiar air, although they can distinguish, 
know and name other things correctly. If, on the 
contrary, I direct them to awaken all but a single 
organ, say that of Tune, then their disposition will be 
to make or hear tones, etc. 

" Every sound is pleasant to them, and even (as a 
gentleman expressed himself) 'the crackling of the 
fire seems music' — but if to this organ they add 
time or harmony, then they become more select, and 
prefei something more musical. 



90 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

"When Tune only is in this state, they can judge 
of nothing but tones — and, although you may have 
placed fifty different articles in their hands, it will 
be impossible for them to recognize, name, or tell 
anything about them ; and when they awaken the 
organ, they will remember nothing that was said or 
done, except what related to tones, although you may 
have expressly endeavored to impress other things 
upon their minds. 

''Again : If I request them to throw in the whole 
brain, with the exception of the organ of Language 
on the one side, then they will be able to distinguish 
and name things on one side, and not on the other. 

" The experiments may be varied at pleasure, and 
when the whole brain is in this state, and one organ 
is awakened after another, as they awaken, they 
become passive, or lose (in proportion as they are 
perfectly awake) their will, their power to perceive, 
imagine, judge, and remember, etc., respectively, 
until the last is relieved, when they become active at 
once, and are then in a natural state. If, on the con- 
trary, they are put to sleep, one after another, as soon 
as the first enters this state, all the rest become inac- 
tive at once, and, as they enter successively, they 
become active until they are all in, and then the 
brain is in a somnambulic state. 

** This proves that the faculties are more active in 
this than they are in a natural state ; and that they 
possess certain independent or peculiar functions 
respectively, namely : — Attention, Perception, Imagi- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 91 

nation, Judgment, Memory, and the Will; etc. — else 
how could a single faculty when alone in this state, 
remember at will, all that relates to its peculiar func- 
tions and nothing more, although you may endeavor 
to impress other things upon the mind of the sub- 
ject when that faculty was only in this state ? 

"In both the natural and somnambulic waking 
states the functions are awake or ready to act, while 
in the somnambulic proper sleeps, if they be perfect, 
they are inactive. But if in either of these proper 
sleeps one or more of the functions awake, it or they 
become active, and then dreaming ensues, and we re- 
member what transpires or not, as the memory of the 
faculty dreaming, is awake or asleep. 

"If the function of perception in the organ of Tune, 
be, only in a somnambulic state, the subject will only 
be able to perceive Tones ; but cannot imagine, judge, 
or remember them, unless these functions respectively 
belonging to the faculty of Tune, be also in this 
state, and so with all the functions of every sense, 
organ, or faculty. 

•'In a natural state one or more of the functions 
or faculties may be, from some cause, rendered inca- 
pable of performing its or their proper functions, and, 
as it or they are more or less affected, we shall have 
the various phenomena, which are often exhibited 
from mere absence of mind, eccentricity, idiocy, etc., 
to perfect monomania and downright madness. 

" Dr. Gall speaks of an organ of educability, or 
memory of facts, and another for the recollection of 



92. ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

persons, etc. ; while Dr. Spurzheim speaks, ' first of 
the faculties which perceive the existence and physi- 
cal qualities of external objects, and those which pro- 
cure notions of relations.' 

"But this is an endless subject, and I will conclude 
this letter by recommending those who may here- 
after engage in the above manner of investigating 
the faculties, to select the best subjects they can pro- 
cure. Grown persons, if intelligent, should always 
be preferred, and the less they know of Phrenology 
the better." New subjects, who have had the proper 
explanations of the true nature of the state before 
they have entered it, should always be preferred to 
those who have been much experimented upon in 
the old way, as it is often difiicult to remove habits 
or modes of thinking which have been acquired in 
this state; and it will, therefore, always be better to 
take those subjects who are best calculated in every 
respect, to give us the facts, unmixed with notions 
which have been previously acquired. 

" The study, with all our advantages, will he a diffi- 
cult one, and as we can only arrive at just conclusions 
by repeated experiments, I hope that those who may 
be engaged in the investigation will be guided more 
by a desire for the truth than an eagerness for 
renown." 

Since writing the above letters, I have had many 
opportunities of witnessing similar results, and the 
experiments which I have since made, all go to prove 
the correctness of the remarks therein contained. I 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 93 

have made many experiments to ascertain the precise 
location of the organs, and my observations have 
generally gone to prove the correctness of most of 
the locations given them by Drs. Gall, Spurzheim, 
and other leading phrenologists. 

I have witnessed a number of striking results in 
many of these experiments, and particularly so, when 
the subject had thrown the whole brain into this state, 
and I had requested him to awaken the portion 
of brain which phrenologists have denominated '^Self- 
esteemy If this is done properly, there is such an 
utter want of energy experienced on their part that 
it is almost impossible to get them even to raise an 
arm, and they have frequently declared that they 
felt as if it were out of their power to do anything. 
They seem to have lost all confidence in themselves, 
and did not feel as if they were any person, or could 
do anything of themselves. 

Similar results, which corresponded to the facul- 
ties awakened, or put to sleep, were frequently wit- 
nessed ; but the difficulty of obtaining subjects suffi- 
ciently interested in the matter themselves, has much 
retarded my progress. I shall, however, continue 
my experiments from time to time, and should any- 
thing occur, either to confirm or disprove this theory, 
I will state the one as freely as the other. 



94: ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISIu. 




CHAPTEE YII. 

OF THE SENSES. 

' .6^r CONSIDER the Senses to be fundamental 
faculties situated in the brain, each having a 
peculiar external apparatus or organization 
communicating with the external world — 
each of which is capable of receiving and 
transmitting sensations to its respective internal 
faculty. All these faculties, so situated, have respec- 
tively, power to attend to, perceive, judge, and re- 
member, etc., their peculiar sensations — only as sensa- 
tions. The respective qualities of these sensations 
must be attended to, perceived, etc., by the various 
other faculties, as the nature of the sensation relates 
to the faculty which can or has the power of per- 
ceiving it, etc. 

I. MOTION ; OR, THE POWER TO MOVE. 

This is also a distinct sense or faculty originating 
in the brain, and having an external apparatus — the 
muscular system — with, by, or through which the 
other organs produce motions peculiar to themselves. 
It, like all the other faculties, has functions peculiar 
to itself, and can perceive, judge, and remember mo- 
tions simply as such — and as the muscular system is 
subservient to the will of all the other faculties — the 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 9S 

force, direction, and continuation, etc., of the motions 
are regulated by motives in the various other facul- 
ties — and when an organ acts singly, the natural 
motion or language of the faculty acting is the result. 
Its being a distinct sense is very evident when it is 
in a somnambulic state. I shall, however, speak of 
it more fully hereafter. 



95 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




V 



CHAPTER YIII. 4 

I 

OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FACULTIES. | 

LL the organs or fundamental faculties of tlie 
brain, I conceive, possess certain kinds of 
action, independent of wliat is called, mere 
" intuitive perception," or knowledge obtained 
through the external senses, and that each 
faculty is composed of certain functions, which, to- 
gether, constitute a faculty. The 'peculiar functions 
belonging to each faculty, properly so called, I con- 
ceive to consist of the following, viz. : — Consciousness, 
Attention, Perception, Memory, Association, Likes, 
Dislikes, Judgment, Imagination, and the Will. 

These functions I conceive to be peculiar in each 
faculty, and that each faculty is only capable of at- 
tending to, perceiving, remembering, liking, judging, 
or associating, etc., those things or ideas which relate 
or are adapted to their peculiar capacities — and hold 
that it is impossible for any faculty to perceive, judge, 
or remember anything which belongs to the province 
of another. Benevolence cannot perceive size or 
form — nor causality or comparison, decay or the 
ridiculous. It is therefore plain that each must 
have its own peculiar attention, memory, judgment, 
etc., as well as its peculiar perception, etc., for it is 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 97 

well known that one organ may perceive and not 
remember at the same time that another does — and 
so with the other functions respectively. I shall, 
therefore, proceed to consider them individually, and 
first of: — 

I.— CONSCIOUSNESS. 

Consciousness is a knowledge of existence, and is 
the first act of the mind, and can be understood by 
the word is ; viz. : to be conscious is to be sensible 
that something exists ; but what that something is 
must be recognized by other functions. Conscious- 
ness simply acts, and it is a positive act ; cannot be 
changed, and must remain simple in itself, and can 
only repeat itself ; as, a is a, is is is, I is /, etc. Is, 
therefore, is the essence of mind, and must exist in 
all thought. 

Mind identifies or makes two things the same ; viz. ; 
two a's are individually the same. True, is can only 
become itself, and is not limited by time or space, 
but in a sense creates both. A thing is itself, or, a 
is a ; consequently the fundamental element of con- 
sciousness is necessary in all operations of mind 
where existence is manifest to the individual. But it 
is possible for all or any one of the functions in any 
of the organs of the brain to be active at the same 
time that consciousness is not (knowingly so) ; as we 
frequently see persons walking, speaking, or even 
singing, without being conscious of doing either. 
So, also, colors may be presented to the eye, scents to 



98 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

the smell, savors to the taste, and yet the person or 
persons may not be conscious in either case. But 
this is because the functions of attention and memory 
in the same organ or organs are not active at the 
time ; and, without the action of these two functions 
in conjunction with consciousness, no action will be 
noted, and the individual will be conscious or not in 
exact proportion as they act together or not. 

II. — attention! 

Attention is that quality or kind of action in the 
mind which fixes it upon certain objects or things 
more or less intently as the function itself is active 
or not in the various faculties, and may vary in the 
different organs of the same brain, both as to strength 
and activity ; but it does this without knowing what 
is attended to. It simply holds the mind to one or 
more things a suf&cient length of time, however brief, 
to enable the other functions to act ; and as it is ex- 
ercised or not, our impressions are perfect or not. 

Some persons are attentive in a very great degree 
to some things, and but moderately or not at all to 
others : and if this function is not active in a faculty, 
the organ cannot recognize anything. 

III. — PERCEPTION. 

Perception is that quality of mind which "perceives 
h something, without knowing what is perceived ; 
f ad as every thing in nature has certain qualities, it 
. )quires that those qualities should be recognized by 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 99 

the various functions of peculiar perception in tliose 
organs which have the power of perceiving them. 

TakC; as an example, a rose. Now as a rose has 
form, size, color, beauty, etc., these qualities must be 
perceived by the functions of peculiar perception in the 
organs of Form, Size, Color, etc., respectively, before 
we can know that it is a rose ; or if we wish to re- 
member, judge, or reflect npon it, compare it with 
others, etc., the functions of memory, judgment, etc., 
in the various organs, must remember, judge, and re- 
flect upon those qualities which they severally can 
only recognize ; and it is only after all these have 
acted, and have been associated the one with the 
other, that we can know that the thing presented is a 
veritable rose. 

An idea may be produced internally by an act of 
the will, rendering the functions of memory or the 
imagination active, and thus produce an idea which 
may be recognized by the functions of perception in 
the faculty whose functions of memory or imagination 
have been active. As, however, different ideas may 
possess different qualities, they may make several 
impressions on the mind at one or nearly the same 
time. Ideas, therefore, may become complex under 
such circumstances, as the properties of the ideas 
double, or even abstract, as we may form an idea of 
a property or a quality independent of a particular 
idea itself. Both these kinds of ideas depend upon 
the activity of the functions belonging to the various 
other faculties which may be called into play ; and, 



/ 



100 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

of course, may vary according to the nature of the 
previous ideas formed. 

lY. — MEMORY. 

Memory is that power which reproduces former 
cerebral impressions or perceptions that have been 
received and stamped upon its scroll, and is perfect 
or not as the impression or the attention at the time 
of reception was perfect or not. 

It is notorious that some persons commit words to 
memory with the greatest facility, but cannot recol- 
lect persons, places, or events, etc., whilst others, re- 
membering these, are deficient in committing words. 

It is, however, sometimes very capable of cultiva- 
tion, and if the attention be very active, it renders the 
impression more distinct, and, of course, the memory 
more perfect. 

V. — ASSOCIATION. 

This power produces a mutual association between 
the functions of the diflPerent faculties, and enables us 
to associate things with persons, localities, forms, 
numbers, colors, sounds, tastes, etc. ; as a rose with a 
person, a person with a place, or a place with events, 
etc. 

YI. AND YII. — LIKES AND DISLIKES. 

The powers to like or dislike are as diversified as 
the faculties themselves. In individuality, they may 
like or dislike individuals ; in eventuality, events ; in 
color, colors ; and in marvellousness, the wonderful. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 101 

Or if the faculty of individuality perceives a person 
— by the impression conveyed to that faculty through 
the sense of seeing — that person may be liked or not, 
according as these functions in the various faculties 
brought into play are pleased or not with the person's 
appearance, his qualities, or his behavior, etc. The 
function of dislike in the organ of size may not be 
pleased with his size, that of configuration with his 
form, or that of color with the shade of his hair ; but 
the functions of love in the same faculties may be re- 
spectively so with the size of his head, the form of 
his mouth, or the color of his cheeks, etc. 

YIII. JUDGMENT. 

Judgment is that act of the mind which decides 
upon the various impressions, actions, and qualities 
presented to the faculty to which it belongs, and in 
this is absolute ; but when associated with the same 
functions in other organs, it constitutes relative or 
combined j udgment. 

"Judgment," says Dr. Spurzheim, "cannot be an 
attribute of every fundamental faculty of the mind, 
since the affective powers, being blind, neither recol- 
lect nor judge their actions. 

"What judgments have physical love, pride, cir- 
cumspection, and all the other feelings ? They re- 
quire to be enlightened by the understanding or in- 
tellectual faculties, and on this account it is that when 
left to themselves they occasion so many disorders. 
And not only does this remark apply to the inferior. 



102 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

but also to the superior affective powers : to hope 
and veneration, as well as to the love of approbation, 
and circumspection. "We may fear things innocent 
or noxious, and venerate idols as well as the God of 
the true Christian. I conceive then that judgment is 
a mode of action of the intellectual faculties only, and 
not a mode of quantity, but of quality." 

It is not necessary to take up the various proposi- 
tions which are assumed in the argument preceding 
and following these paragraphs, as I think the 
Doctor has fairly admitted that these faculties have 
judgment, when he says that "they require to be en. 
lightened by the understanding or the intellectual 
faculties." To "become enlightened," the faculties 
above alluded to must certainly be able to judge be- 
tween things, qualities, and sensations, etc, ; if they 
cannot do this, how are they to be enlightened? 

Dr. Gall was of the opinion that every fundamental 
faculty possessed four degrees — or quantities — of activ- 
ity : "the first was perception; the second, memory; 
the third, judgment, and the fourth imagination ;" 
while Dr. Spurzheira believed the intellectual 
faculties only to be possessed of modes of action — 
not "modes of quantity," however, as Dr. Gall be- 
lieved, but of quality. 

I do not consider the action in the faculties, or in a 
single faculty, to be degrees or quantities of activity of 
the individual or whole organ itself, as Dr. Gall be- 
lieved, nor yet with Dr. Spurzheim, that the same 
are modes of quality in an undivided organ, or that 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 103 

they are confined to the intellectual faculties. But that 
all the faculties alike are composed of certain indepen- 
dent functions, each function constituting a part of the 
organ to which it belongs^ and possessing a peculiar hind 
of action^ which may differ in any of the organs^ both in 
size, healthy strength, and activity, or in quantity^ quality, 
force, or energy^ etc.^ according to circumstances. I con- 
ceive that when an organ is active an emotion is ex- 
perienced, and that degrees of activity are degrees 
simply of the same emotion. There are, therefore, as 
many peculiar emotions as there are faculties. • 

I therefore consider judgment a function belonging 
to every fundamental faculty of the brain, and its 
operation, like all the rest of the functions, is confined 
to the special functions of the faculty to which it be- 
longs ; and by an association with the functions of 
judgment in the other faculties, a judgment will re- 
sult that is perfect in exact proportion to the sound- 
ness of the faculties acting. 

IX. — IMAGINATION. 

Imagination is that power which creates an image 
or embodies a thought, and therefore is entirely dif- 
ferent from thought, which alone can conceive ideas, 
truths/and the infinite. You cannot imagine space, 
nor can you make a picture of it in your imagination. 
You can form an idea, or think of it, but you cannot 
imagine the infinite any more than you can measure 
it with a tape line ; and although image-making and 
thinking are united when we think of things or im- 



104 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

pressions received through the senses, yet they are 
distinct and separate operations of mind. One is 
adapted to that which cannot be seen or touched, the 
other to things which are tangible. The imagination 
differs in the various organs in the same individual, 
and when a faculty is endowed in a high degree with 
this function, it is capable of originating new ideas 
according to the nature of the faculty to which it 
belongs ; and when combined, or associated with the 
functions of the various other faculties, original plans, 
drafts, compositions, and machinery result. I con- 
sider constructiveness simply to be the faculty that 
adapts, constructs, builds, forms, puts together, either 
naturally or after a plan laid down or approved by 
certain combined faculties, and that it does not of 
itself invent machinery. 

Some men do things only as they have been taught, 
others do them in a way of their own, untaught. 

Birds usually build their nests in a certain form, 
without having been taught, and bees construct their 
cells of various sizes and depths, but their form, ex- 
cept the queen's, do not vary materially. It is true 
they have a natural plan or form of building their 
various cells, but they vary the shape, size, and 
depth of their combs according to the size and shape 
of the hive, or the space which they are to occupy. 
This cannot be the result of what is called instinct, 
nor the mere power to do, nor yet imitation, because 
they are never exactly alike. They must therefore 
invent or adapt the one to the other. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 105 

X. — WILL. 

The will is that power which renders all the other 
functions active or passive, and is reciprocally afifected 
by all the rest, particularly by the judgment ; and 
when the will acts independently in all the faculties, 
contrary wills are the result. 

To illustrate the operations of mind, let us suppose 
that an object or an idea of previous conception is 
presented. The function of consciousness being ac- 
tive, attention may be heedful, perception observe, 
memory note and store away, the likes love, the dis- 
likes hate, the judgment distinguish, association unite 
or bring together, the imagination conceive, etc., as 
the will determines, influenced or not by the judg- 
ment, the peculiar likes or dislikes. 

Now, if consciousness be active, the function of at- 
tention may act with the function of the will indepen- 
dent of any other function, but we cannot perceive 
without the action of the function of perception in 
■unison with them. We may be conscious and attend, 
but until an object, a quality, or an idea is presented 
and noted by the proper functions capable of such 
recognition, we cannot know what we attend to ; and 
it is only in proportion to the activity of conscious- 
ness and attention that we do this perfectly or not- in 
any case. 

We cannot see, hear, feel, taste, or smell know- 
ingly, without the functions of consciousness, atten- 
tion, and peculiar perception in these senses or organs 
are active ; for it is notorious that we often pass 



106 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

friends, and are spoken to at times by otlierS; without 
seeing tlie one or hearing the other. 

When the functions of consciousness, attention, per- 
ception, and the will, have acted independent of the 
rest of the functions in the sense of seeing, this facul- 
ty has perceived a peculiar impression, and is con- 
scious of the fact at the time ; but if a person or a 
thing having peculiar qualities has been perceived 
the above functions in the organ of Individuality 
must also have acted. But before the peculiar quali- 
ties of light, or the size, form, and color of the person 
or thing can be known, these qualities will have to be 
perceived by the peculiar perceptive functions of the 
faculties individually, and are distinct ideas. 

If, in addition to the functions of consciousness, 
attention, perception, and the will, the function of 
memory becomes active, the combination will not 
only be able to perceive and be conscious of the act at 
the time, but will be able to recall the idea impressed 
or stored away. "We often see, hear, and learn things 
which we forget in process of time, because the atten- 
tion, at the time of perceiving, etc., w^as not fixed, or 
the memory sufficiently exercised. 

This is the reason why we may sometimes have a 
reminiscence, but not distinct memory. The function 
of memory in one organ may recollect and the other 
not ; and thus we may know the name of an individ- 
ual or thing, etc., but cannot utter it. In this case 
the memory in the organ of individuality remembers 
the person, the memory of eventuality remembers 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 107 

that the name was known, but the memory of language 
has forgotten it. 

If, however, the function of association be broug^ht 
into play or action with the rest, and by an associa- 
tion with the functions of the other faculties, the 
name which was lost by the memory of language may 
often be restored to that function. 

An association or joined activity of the functions 
of one faculty with those of another produces an asso- 
ciation of ideas ; and we may associate a flower with 
a person, a person with a number, or a number with 
a place, etc., or an artificial sign may make us re- 
member those which are absolute. 

With the likes and dislikes added to these, the 
person or thing may be liked or not as the impres- 
sions upon these functions are agreeable or otherwise ; 
and their pleasing or not is a distinct idea in either 
case. 

It frequently happens that we dislike an indi- 
vidual at first sight ; that is, his appearance may not 
please the function of dislike in one or more of the 
faculties ; but upon a nearer acquaintance, his man- 
ners, or the qualities of his mind may act upon our 
functions of love in other faculties, and, by exciting 
them from time to time, we may lose our first im- 
pressions of dislike, and absolutely at last esteem the 
object of our previous hatred. The reverse is often 
the case with those whom we may at first love. 

If the judgment be added to the rest or becomes 
active with them, it enables the faculties to judge of 



108 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

the person or tMng ; and the imagination may con- 
ceive improvements in eitlier. 

Correctness in all operations of mind will of course 
depend upon the health, size, and strength of the 
functions, and the amount of true knowledge pre- 
viously stored away. 

The will in the organ of motion and other faculties 
controls the muscular system, and when the faculty 
of motion is associated with any of the other faculties, 
peculiar motions can be produced; and as I have 
before stated, the natural language of the faculties as 
it is called, is th.e result of such combinations. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 109 




CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE PECULIAR FUNCTIONS OF PERCEPTION IN 
THE DIFFERENT FACULTIES WHILE IN A NATURAL 
STATE. 

LTHOUGH this work is not strictly a treatise 
on mind, it seems necessary from what I have 
^ ^ already said respecting the division of the 
)^6 faculties into functions, that, to complete my 
views of them, I should make some further 
explanations, or at least give my views of the pecu- 
liar perceptions in the different faculties, which percep- 
tions respectively were heretofore considered to be 
the faculty itself; and, instead of being composed of 
separate and distinct functions, to possess as a whole 
only modes of action, viz. : modes of quantity or 
modes of quality. 

I shall, therefore, here, to make the difference 
between the views of Dr. Spurzheim and myself more 
plain and easily understood, give his views numbered 
separately, followed by my own with corresponding 
numbers. 

DR. SPURZHEIM'S YIEWS. 

1. "I admit in the mind external senses, by which 
the mind and the external world are brought into com- 
munication and made mutually influential." 



110 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

2. " The internal faculties are feelings and intellect." 

3. " Both sorts may act by their internal power, or 
ma}'- be Excited by appropriate impressions from 
without." 

4. " The knowledge of our feelings is as positive as 
the experimental without." 

5. " Every determinate action of any faculty depends 
on two conditions — the faculty and the object." 

6. " The intellectual faculties are perceptive and re- 
flective." 

T. " The feelings and perceptive faculties are in re- 
lation and adapted to the external world, whilst the re- 
flective faculties are applied to the feelings and experi- 
mental knowledge, and destined to bring all the partic- 
ular feelings and notions into harmony." 

THE author's views AND EXPLANATIONS. 

1. I admit or consider the senses to be fundamen- 
tal faculties situated in the brain ; each having a pe- 
culiar apparatus or organization communicating with 
the external world, which are capable of receiving 
and transmitting sensations or impressions to their 
internal faculties. Which faculties, so situated, have 
respectively power to attend to, perceive, judge, and 
remember, etc., their peculiar sensations or impressions 
only as sensations or impressions. The respective 
qualities of these impressions, etc., must be attended 
to, perceived, etc., by the various other faculties as 
the nature of the impression relates to the faculty 
which can have or has the power of perceiving 
it, etc. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. Ill 

2. I admit that all the internal faculties possess 
like functions, which together constitute a faculty. 
But the particular function or power in each, whether 
it be called feeling or perception, I consider to be 
peculiar in each ; viz. : the faculties called the " affec- 
tive faculties or feelings " by Dr. Spurzheim, and by 
him divided into "feelings proper to man and ani- 
mals," and " feelings proper to man ;" the essential 
nature of which, he says, is " only to feel emotions," 
I consider to be like all the rest, whether termed in- 
tellectual, reflective, or otherwise, possessed of pecu- 
liar powers to observe, perceive, know, or recognize, 
etc., the peculiar impressions, sensations, objects, or 
ideas, etc., which their individual capacities render 
them capable of. Whether in Destructiveness, this 
power be called the power to observe, know, or recog- 
nize destruction or desolation ; in the organ of Be- 
nevolence, generosity; in Conscientiousness, justice; 
or in Causality, the cause of either. 

8. I consider that all the perceptions, etc., may be 
excited by internal as well as external impressions. 

4. I consider that the knowledge of our internal 
impressions, whether they are called feelings, percep- 
tions, or ideas, etc., are as positive as those from 
without. 

5. I consider that every determinate action of 
any function depends upon the function and the 
impression. 

6. I consider that all the faculties perceive and re- 
flect, or judge those things which relate to their 
capacities. 



112 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

7. I conceive that all the faculties are in relation 
and adapted to the external world, and all may re- 
ceive impressions from within or without, and each 
may reflect, etc., upon its own peculiar impressions, 
which is accomplished by the other functions belong- 
ing to each faculty. The power to feel, perceive, or 
know impressions in the organ of Destructiveness, 
may perceive the impressions relating to desolation, 
decay, or destruction. 

The same function in the organ of Combativeness 
may perceive the impression relating to resistance, 
quarrels, battles, contests, etc. 

The same in Benevolence may recognize the benign, 
the kind, the generous, or liberal. 

The same in Reverence, what is venerable. 

The same in Individuality may perceive persons or 
things. 

In Eventuality, events. 

In Tone, tones. 

In Comparison, the identity or difference between 
them ; and in Causality, the cause of one or of all. 

If the function of perception in the faculty of De- 
structiveness note or observe an impression, whether 
of desolation, decay, or death, its peculiar functions 
of consciousness, attention, perception, and the will, 
must have acted ; but before it can judge of the im- 
pression or remember the same, its functions of judg- 
ment and memory must also act ; and so with the 
likes and dislikes, its imagination, and its association 
before it can like or dislike the impression, imagine 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 118 

another, or associate it with any of the other faculties, 
which would enable the mind to draw conclusions as 
to the exact kind of desolation, decay, or death ; its 
identity with other desolations, etc., or the cause of 
either. 

If the function of perception in the organ of 
Causality perceives a cause, whether it be from an 
external impression or an idea of the mind, the same 
functions in the organ of Causality must have acted 
before it could have been observed, judged, remem- 
bered, liked or not, another imagined, the one or both 
associated and compared with others. 

It therefore seems very evident that if an impres- 
sion is received through the external apparatus, or 
organization of the sight, by the function of percep- 
tion in the sense or faculty of seeing, that impression 
may be judged, etc., by the other functions of that 
faculty only as an impression, and before the respec- 
tive qualities of that impression can be known ; the 
functions in the organs capable of recognizing them 
must also attend to, perceive, judge, and reflect upon 
them. 

Thus : if the impression received be caused by the 
presentation of a rose, the impression conveyed at the 
time will be perceived, judged, etc., by the faculty of 
seeing ; individuality will perceive, judge, and re- 
member the object's distinct or individual existence ; 
ize, its bulk ; color, its shade ; form, its configura- 
tion, etc., before the mind can know that it is a rose. 

If it be beautiful, that quality must be recognized 



114 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

by Ideality. If decayed, by Destructiveness ; its iden- 
tity witb others by Comparison ; and the cause of 
either, by Causality. 

As each function, however, may differ in health, 
strength, and activit}?-, or in quality, quantity, and 
energy, etc., it must follow that there will be degrees 
in their capacities. 

Therefore if the functions, particularly that of love, 
in the organs of Combativeness and Destructiveness, 
be large and very much excited by impressions re- 
ceived or impulses given by the other faculties, the 
consequence will be violent emotions in these facul- 
ties, which, if not held in check by other functions in 
counteracting faculties, injuries will be contemplated, 
and if aided by the power to do, injury may be done 
purely for the love of it. If with the above faculties 
the functions in the organ of Acquisitiveness be very 
active, the motives to do injury would be for gain ; 
if the same in the organs of Cautiousness and Secre- 
tiveness be added, the disposition would be to do the 
deed as an assassin, and to cloak or hide it when 
done. 

Should the functions of the imagination in all the 
faculties be large and active, the plan to do the 
same would be likely to be good or well-contrived ; 
if not, the reverse would be the case, and so with the 
rest of the functions respectively. 

The analysis and synthesis might be carried on at 
pleasure, but there has necessarily already been con- 
siderable repetition, which I cannot yet wholly avoid, 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 115 

as I have still to consider tlie functions while in a 
somnambulic state. 

I. — OF THE PECULIAR FUNCTIONS OF PERCEPTION WHEN IN A 
STATE OF ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

When a function of perception in any of the facul- 
ties belonging to the brain becomes active while in a 
state of Artificial Somnambulism, it is enabled to 
perceive without the aid of the external senses, and 
the perceptmi thus accomjpllshed I call Glearmindedness. 

I conceive that this power is possessed by all the 
faculties while in this state ; and that they can indi- 
vidually only perceive what relates to their peculiar 
capacities, whether it be an idea in the mind of an- 
other, or is composed of matter and exists in the ex- 
ternal world, if their individual attentions, etc., be 
directed to them. 

The functions can and often do act independent of 
one another, and as they act singly or not the external 
or visible signs or results, etc., differ also : viz. : if the 
function of perception in the organs of Motion and 
Imitation become active together, independent of the 
functions of consciousness and the memory in either 
of these faculties, an imitative motion may take place 
or be produced independent of the suhjecfs knowledge j 
as is frequently the case, although the rest of the 
faculties may not be clairvoyant, when drawing the 
attention of these faculties to a motion which w^e 
wish to be imitated. 

This can sometimes be effected without saying a 



116 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

word, particularly if a slight noise be made by that 
motion, which, through the hearing, attracts the atten- 
tion of these faculties. This, however, cannot be ef- 
fected unless the attention be first drawn by some 
means; but if the attention in these faculties be 
watchful or attending to the external world, etc., it is 
astonishing how slight a hint or even a thought will be 
observed, and produce the desired results without the 
subject's knowledge. 

This peculiar power of the faculties while in this 
state, enables subjects, or persons who are supposed to 
he ^'impressible'''' and under the influence of a nervous 
fluid, to know or arrive at correct conclusions respect- 
ing the contents of sealed letters, etc., or even to arrive 
at a knowledge of the thoughts of another, although 
the person thinking or the letter to be read be at a 
distance. 

I could furnish innumerable facts to prove their 
ability to do these things were it necessary. I will 
conclude this section by relating a case in point 
which lately came to my knowledge : 

A lady who, after having been in a somnambulic 
state, awoke with the impression that she must or 
could not avoid knowing the mind of the operator. 
Since that time she has been possessed of that power, 
and her mind, which she thinks must he, is, of course, 
almost always directed to him ; consequently, when 
so diiected, her mind enters the somnambulic state 
involuntarily, and she is, as it were, irresistibly com- 
pelled to know his thoughts and his whereabouts, etc. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 117 

Th:s power, which is a great annoyance to her, 
will be likely to continue as long as her belief remains 
the same, or until she learns the true nature of her 
state, and that the remedy lies within herself; viz.: 
to prevent her mind from entering the state, or of 
reaching out, dairvoyantly, after him. 

I have a number of subjects who can do the same 
thing at pleasure, independent of any one ; and if the 
above lady had had the proper instructions before she 
entered the state, the power which now annoys her 
she could have used at pleasure. 

II. — THE FUNCTIONS CONSIDERED WHEN IN A STATE OF ARTIFI- 
CIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

1. — Consciousness. 

Consciousness and sensation are completely under 
the control of the will in most subjects while in this 
state, and are extremely active or entirely passive, as 
the will of the subject determines. 

2. — Attention. 

When persons are in the sleeping condition of 
Artificial Somnambulism, all the senses and faculties 
lie dormant or inactive, and it requires an express 
action of their will to render any of them active. 
They can do this whenever they please, either par- 
tially or entirely, but they cannot see, and hear, and 
smell, and feel, etc., at one and the same time. But 
they can see, or not, hear, feel, taste, smell, move, 



118 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

think, attend, perceive, be conscious, remember, judge, 
imagine, like or not, etc., as thej please, or wben they 
please, independent of any one. 

In the waking condition of this state, their atten- 
tion is commonly directed to the person into whose 
care they have entrusted themselves, not because they 
cannot do otherwise, but because they choose to do 
so, and often do not wish to be disturbed by others ; 
and as it commonly requires an effort for them to do 
anything (particularly when they have entered it for 
the first time), it is necessary when an experiment is 
desired, that their attention should first be drawn and 
properly directed and their full consent to do so ob- 
tained before the experiment is attempted. I expressly 
again deny that there is anything like what is called 
sympathy between the subject and the so-called opera- 
tor ; and insist that they never do anything by sym- 
pathy, nor can they perform any experiment if their 
attention be not first directed to the object, either by 
the instructor or the person into whose charge they 
have entrusted themselves, or by their own will. 
They cannot and do not taste what is in the operator's 
mouth unless their attention he first directed to his tasting, 
etc. ; and when that is done, it is not by sympathy 
but by throwing their mind there and tasting it. They 
can do the same thing if the article to be tasted by 
them be in the mouth of any other person, or is placed 
in a box at a distance. Their information, therefore, 
cannot be obtained by sympathy, unless it be admitted 
that they can sympathize with a box or any other 
inanimate substance. 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 119 

^.—Perception. 

Tlie powers of perception in fhis state compared 
witli the same function in a natural state are incon- 
ceivably greater, and it is impossible for those who 
have not seen or made the necessary experiments to 
conceive the difference. Language fails to express it, 
and our common philosophy is too circumscribed to 
explain the reality. 

This function, when aroused and properly directed, 
is extremely sensitive and correct, and most subjects 
by an act of their own will can translate their percep- 
tions, etc., to any part of the body, whether to the 
stomach, feet, hands, or fingers, and use them at these 
points as well as at any other. The same thing is 
often witnessed in cases of natural somnambulism, and 
only exists because the somnambulist's mind has 
from some cause been directed to these parts. 

They can also translate their faculties to a distance, 
and I have had them to perform thousands of experi- 
ments correctly at various distances, varying from ten 
feet to eighty miles, independent of any previous 
knowledge or communication whatever, either per- 
sonal or otherwise. I state these facts in the face of 
all the learning, opposition, prejudice, disbelief, and 
ridicule of the age ; and would ask those unbelievers, 
who are satisfied with the philosophy which cannot 
even tell them what light is, to say where their powers 
of perception shall cease, when it has been proved 
that these things have and can be done at a distance 
of over and above sixty miles. 



120 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

Their powers of perceptioD, however, are not always 
infallible ; that is, subjects do not always tell cor- 
rectly. Their not seeing, tasting, smelling, etc., truly 
sometimes, is owing to their own imagination ; because 
when persons are in a state of Artificial Somnambul- 
ism, they can see, taste, smell, etc., what they imagine, 
as well as they can that which really exists ; and, 
therefore, if they are not very careful to look before 
they imagine, they may see or taste falsely respecting 
what exists, but yet truly what they imagine. It is 
very difficult to tell when they do the one and when 
they do the other, and it is yet to be learned whether 
cultivation will produce perfection. Practice will no 
doubt much improve it, and I have always observed 
that when the subjects were themselves interested in 
looking or tasting, etc., the result was more satisfac- 
tory ; showiug that it requires that they should not 
only guard against their imagination, but that it also 
requires their whole attention to perceive correctly. 
If they are indifferent or unwilling to perform experi- 
ments, their answers cannot be depended upon. 

I hold, therefore, that if subjects in this state can 
use their senses and faculties correctly at a distance 
of sixty or eighty miles, that we cannot limit their 
abilities short of anything which would be incom 
patible with this philosophy. . 

I wish, however, to be distinctly understood upon 
this point, and contend that if they can tell things 
which are placed or are passing at a distance of sixty 
miles correctly, they can do so at any distance under 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 121 

like circumstances. But I stilly knowing that they may 
and often do imagine, would not receive their evidence as 
positive proof ; nor would I absolutely declare, in any in- 
stance, that they did not see correctly unless I could prove 
the contrary, knowi^ig also that they have done these 
things correctly, and can do so again if they direct their 
minds properly. 

Practice and tlie proper cultivation of this faculty 
will I am persuaded, at no very distant day, so im- 
prove this power, that it will not only rival the 
powers of the natural eye, but so far exceed them that 
a comparison between them will be in favor of clair- 
voyance. This may at this time appear a sweeping 
assertion, but from what I have seen I am constrained 
to predict that, instead of being limited to its imme- 
diate surroundings, like the natural eye it will be 
able to peer through matter, darkness, and space, 
until there shall not be a nook in all creation that its 
power cannot reach or its observation scan. 

The clearmindedness of the other senses is also sus- 
ceptible of the same improvement. 

4. — Memory. 

The activity of the memory in this state depends 
entirely upon the will of the subject, and in passing 
from this state into the natural by an act of their own 
will, some can entirely forget what has taken place in 
that state, or remember only as much as they please. 

If, when a subject is in this state, nothing be said 
about their remembering, or they do not make an e:^- 



122 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

press effort or desire to do so of their own accord, 
they remember nothing when they awake. 

I have in several instances forgotten to request 
persons to remember, and when they awoke it was 
impossible to make them believe that they had been 
asleep at all, or had done anything. This is particu- 
larly the case when they have entered the state for the 
first time, and have not yet learned the necessity of 
doing so. 

One subject in particular, whom I had forgotten to 
remind, had taken a walk in the garden, played upon 
the piano, sang, danced, and named many individuals 
^placed behind her chair, etc., yet could not be made 
to believe it until she had again entered the state and 
was told to remember. 

Another lady, who had also done many similar 
things while asleep, could not, after she awoke, be 
persuaded that she had been asleep at all, or had done 
anything. She believed she had been imposed upon, 
although her friends present all testified to the con- 
trary. She has never since consented to enter the 
state again, and still believes that she never has been 
in it. This case shows the necessity of getting them 
to remember before they awake ; and it should al- 
ways be done when they can be persuaded to do so, 
but I have had some who positively refused, and of 
course knew nothing when they awoke. 
5. — Association. 

Association, like all the rest of the functions, is 
controlled by the will, and is active or passive as that 
function is actiye or not. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 123 

6 and 7. — Likes and Dislikes. 

The likes and dislikes in this state are easily ex- 
cited and are respectively easily pleased and dis- 
pleased ; and when anything occurs to please, the sub- 
jects are generally courteous and affable, but always 
thorough ly indepen dent. 

On the contrary, when anything occurs to displease, 
they can resent, despise, or be indignant in the ex- 
treme, as the nature of the case may be. 

8. — Judgment. 

The judgment in this state is correct or not accord- 
ing as the thing to be judged interests them or not. 
When active it is extremely correct, and the reverse 
when the opposite is the case. 

9. — Imagination. 

The imagination, when unrestrained by the will in 
this state, is extremely active ; and as they can see 
what they imagine as well as they can perceive what 
really exists, as I have before stated, it is difficult to 
know when they do the one or the other ; or whether 
they do not do both at one or nearly the same time. 
The following is a case of the latter description : 
I requested a lady, at the suggestion of a certain 
gentleman, to visit his house for the purpose of test- 
ing her powers of clairvoyance, neither of us knowing 
where he intended to be, or who were to be there, 
etc. She complied willingly, and said that he, the 
gentleman who made the request, was in the front 



124 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

room in company with two otter gentlemen, naming 
both, and that lie was speaking to Mr. A. 

"We at once sent to ascertain the facts, and found 
that the owner of the house was not in that room, but 
that the other two gentlemen whom she had named 
were, and speaking together. 

In this case, she being desirous of finding a certain 
individual, her mind was placed upon him and imagined 
that she saw him in the front room, but absolutely 
did see who really was there. Had she been upon 
her guard, and looked without imagining, she would 
have seen that the owner of the house was not there, 
and would not have been liable to the oversight she 
made by imagining first and looking afterwards. 

I here again repeat that when persons are ignorant 
of their powers while in this state, their imagination 
is easily imposed upon, and they can be made to 
imagine and see what they imagine by operators as 
ignorant as themselves ; not because they must do so, 
but because they believe that they must. The same 
things have taken place frequently in excitable sub- 
jects when awake, independent of any operator, and 
it is therefore not extraordinary that they should 
occur when all the faculties are excited by an opera- 
tor who has imposed upon their credulity. But I 
contend that they are not and cannot be produced 
awake or asleep, contrary to the subject's will, and 
that when they do take place they are the effects of 
an excited imagination simply, and not real percep- 
tions of what ^ jtually exists. The same impositions 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 125 

are often practised upon tbeir hearing, feeling, taste, 
and smell, etc., by some operators, who will ice to be 
hot, water to be brandy, hartshorn, or cologne, etc. 
I have no doubt the subjects do hear, feel, taste, and 
smell what they say, and believe the one to be the 
other, but it is upon the principle that they see what 
they imagine. But their believing or doing so does 
not prove that it is effected by the will of the opera- 
tor, any more than their believing so should make 
the water brandy, etc. The effect is produced by 
reading the mind of the operator and blindly consent- 
ing to be governed by it : and they could just as well 
imagine the one to be the other independent of him or 
contrary to his will, if they were so disposed. 

Such impositions are therefore not only ridiculous 
and useless, but imprudent, and I have no doubt that 
these and similar inconsistencies have disgusted and 
turned many fine minds from this interesting science. 
I hope, however, that time and a thorough exposition 
of such absurdities will reclaim their favor, and make 
the science worthy their attention. 

The will is paramount in this state, and controls 
the activity of all the functions. 

The will to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, or move, etc., 
depends upon the activity of this function, influenced 
or not by the judgment, in one or more of the facul- 
ties, and is exercised or not, according to the deter- 
mination formed to do the one or the other. 



126 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

It is supremely independent of the will of the op- 
erator, or any other person ; and when the subject is 
acquainted with the true nature of the sleep and his 
powers therein before he enters it, it is impossible to 
impose upon or dally with him — much less while in 
this state than when awake. 

I therefore positively deny that it is possible for 
any person to do anything with them in any way 
contrary to their will, or that they would be more 
likely to yield to arguments or persuasions in this 
state that when awake. I hav-e always found the 
reverse to be the case, and have generally had much 
difficulty in getting them to perform experiments, 
especially if they have had a proper explanation of 
the nature of the state before they enter it. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 127 




CHAPTER X. 

OF READING OR KNOWING THE MIND. 

CAN no longer doubt that some subjects 
have the extraordinary power of reading or 
knowing the mind of any person at pleasure, 
and can do so, although the persons may be 
at a distance. This fact, which I at one time 
very much doubted, I was eventually forced to 
believe, and the only rational solution of the manner 
in which it is effected is, that the mind, or the facul- 
ties of the brain reaching out, or being translated to 
the mental aura of the individual, there reads, and it 
may ho often, unconsciously, the mental image formed, 
either in symbols or in words. That they can do 
this, I am constrained to say, I have proved more 
than a thousand times. I will give a few illustra- 
tions in detail. 

I. — ILLUSTRATION. 

When on a visit to S , the following instance 

of this power was exhibited to a private company at 
that place : 

Subject, Miss W . First sitting. She was 

over an hour in entering the state, and after I had 
declared her to be in a perfect state of Artificial 
Somnambulism, I was called out of the room by a 



128 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

reverend gentleman of the place, who requested me, 
in a very opinionative and sarcastic manner, to will 

Miss W to descend into the parlor below, and 

bring up a tumbler of water which he had placed 
upon the table — for the purpose of testing her powers 
of reading the mind — and insisted that it must be 
done without uttering a word. 

As I had doubts of succeeding, this being the 
lady's first sitting, I stated very frankly to the gen- 
tleman that I would try the experiment to gratify him, 
but that the success of it depended very much upon, 
whether she was paying attention to my will or not, 
and that I almost always found it necessary to draw 
their attention before I attempted any experiment. 

As, however, nothing would satisfy him but the 
plan he had laid down, I told him that if he would 
open the doors between us, so that she could pass 
down-stairs, I would attempt it from where I stood. 

After having done so our relative position was as 
follows : — The chair upon which she was seated was 
in the middle of the next room, with an entry and 
stairway between us, and her back towards me. I 
willed her first to get up, and then successively to 
pass down-stairs, take hold of the tumbler and bring 
it up. 

This, to my utter astonishment, she did to the very 
letter, and when she had brought it up to me, speak 
ing aloud, I requested her to give it to a certain gen- 
tleman, without naming him. She followed the rev 
erend gentleman through the crowd and around the 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 129 

room several times, until she obliged him to take it. 
During the flight of the reverend gentleman many 
others attempted to deceive her, by reaching for the 
tumbler, but she would give it to none but him. 

II. — ILLUSTRATION. 

Before I enter into the details of this case, it will 
be necessary to make some remarks upon the prac- 
tice of putting persons into what has been called en 
rapport, communication, correspondence, or sympathy 
with them, etc. Various methods have been adopted 
to effect this end, and most of my readers are, no 
doubt, acquainted with them, I will not enter upon a 
description here. I have always found such pro- 
ceedings unnecessary, and when such a desideratum 
is desired by any person, it is only necessary for the 
instructor, or the person into whose care they have 
entrusted themselves, to direct their attention to the 
individual in question, or to make them acquainted 
with their desires, and they will travel with, or read 
their minds as well without contact, passes, etc., as with 
them. 

The reason why the interference of the operator, 
as he is called, is sometimes necessary, is because the 
subject has entered this state under his care, and 
commonly does not attend or listen to any but him, 
and, therefore, does not hear, unless directed by him 
to the person speaking, or they do so of their own 
accord. If, when a person is in this state, he brings 
back, or places his mind upon the room in which he 



130 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

is seated, he can hear what is said as well as if he 
were awake. The supposition or belief that he 
cannot hear is a mistake, and in performing experi- 
ments it is necessary to be extremely cautious not to 
speak of what they are desired to look at, for, if their 
attention is directed to the room, they can hear the 
slightest whisper, although- it be spoken at the most 
remote part of the room. I shall now proceed to 
give the second illustration in detail, and extract the 
following from notes taken at the time. Subject, 

Miss Z , and her tenth sitting. She was requested 

to travel with Mr. F., and having consented, was 
asked by him : 

Mr. F. — "Where are we now?" 

Miss Z. — " On a large water, in a steamboat," and 
pointing up, said, '•' There is a flag, it is striped." 

Mr. F. — " Well, where are we now ?" 

Miss Z. — " In the cabin. It is very beautiful." 

Mr. F.—'' Where now ?" 

Miss Z. — "Looking at the machinery." She gave 
a description of various things about it, and, without 
being asked, said, " We are on deck now." 

Mr. F.—'' Well, what am I looking at ?" 

Miss Z. — (Seemingly much delighted) — "I see 
another boat coming towards us, but it looks very 
small. It is very far off', and creeps along like a 
turtle." 

Mr. F. — " Where are we now ?" 

Miss Z. — " If you cannot take me to a better house 
than this, I will not go with you any more." 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 131 

Mr. F. — " Why, what kind of a house is it ?" 

Miss Z. — "It is a poor concern, and is made of 
rough boards. Let us go." 

Mr, F. — '' Where are we now ?" 

Miss Z. — (Very much pleased and laughing 
heartily) — "Oh! just look at them. See how busy 
they are." 

Mr. F.—" What do you see ?" 

Miss Z. — ■" Why beavers, to be sure. Look how 
they are building their huts." 

Mr. F. — ^' Where are we now ?" 

Miss Z. — " I think in a city. We are before a 
large house that has a sign ; see how it swings." 

Mr. F. — "Let us go in." 

Miss Z. — *' No, 1 would rather be excused. Let us 
go home." 

Mr. F. — '' Wellj where are we now ?" 

Miss Z. — " This is a strange-looking boat, but now 
we are on a better one. There — now walk out on 
that plank. Here we are at home again." 

Mr. F then stated that she had read his mind 

correctly ; and that he first imagined himself in a 
steamboat upon a lake, he then threw his mind into 
the cabin, then upon the machinery, then on deck, 
and imagined a steamboat in the distance. He next 
imagined himself upon an island, where the boat 
usually stopped to take in wood, and upon which there 
was a shanty, which she described. He next threw 
his mind upon beavers at work, constructing their 
huts. Then in Millwaukie, before the hotel, and 



132 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

finally, upon an inferior boat used to convey passen- 
gers to the main boat, and tben home. 

That they can read the mind, or see and know 
what is passing in that of another, is a question 
which has been much agitated, but never, I believe 
doubted by those who have made the proper experi- 
ments. 

It is astonishing with what facility some subjects 
follow, or read the minds even of strangers who may 
desire to take them to places where they have never 
been ; and when there with what accuracy they 
describe places, personS; or things existing or passing 
at the time. 

The following is an illustration of this kind of 
seeing : 

Mr E was desired, at the request of a gentle- 
man, to visit his home with him — which was distant 
about fifty miles — and when he had followed him by 
reading his mind, he described the peculiarities of 
the mill and the house attachtd to it, the number of 
rooms in the house, where entered, the furniture and 
relative position of the same, his wife, whom he de- 
scribed as being slim, tall, with very dark hair and 
dark complexion, dressed in a brown gown, having a 
child in her arms. Another child, of about four 
years old, was described as running about the room ; 
and an old gentleman, rather portly, bald, and dressed 
in drab clothes, was seated upon a settee. All this 
the gentleman declared was correct, and could not 
have been better described by the subject if he haJl 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 133 

been there in body at the time ; and, as the gentle- 
man bad never seen tbe subject before, nor the sub- 
ject either him or any of the family, he was con- 
vinced, though skeptical before, that he must have 
just seen what he described. 

The description of the above residence and family 
was so minute, so clear, and so unhesitatingly done, 
that if it, or a like description, had been given to the 
most skeptical, it must have convinced him that there 
was something more in their powers than "is dreamed 
of in the world's philosophy." 

ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 

Subjects, Miss Z and Miss S , both in the 

state at the same time. They were requested, by a 
lady present, to visit her home in company (eighty- 
two miles distant), and after obtaining their consent — 
as neither of the subjects had ever been there — she 
conveyed them there in thought, and desired them 
to name the number of trees before a certain house 
she was looking at. 

Answer. — " Four," 

Ques. — "What kind of a house is it?" 

Ans. — ''A two story brick.'' 

Ques. — " How many steps are there at the front 
door ?" 

Ans. — " Only one." 

Ques. — " How many at the back door ?" 

^?2s— "Three." 

Ques. — '* How many rooms are there on the first 
floor?" 



134: ARTIFICIAL SOMNAJJBUIJSM. 

Ans. — " Four, besides tlie kitcTien." 

They then described the furniture in the various 
rooms, the mantle ornaments, the carpets, and which 
rooms were papered, and which were not, etc. 

Ques. — "How many rooms are on the second 
floor ?" 

Ans. — " Five." 

They described one of the rooms very minutely, 
stating that it looked more like a kitchen than a 
sleeping or sitting room, and that it had a strange 
shape, and the pitch of the roof over it was very 
peculiar (many things belonging to a kitchen were 
in it at this time). They named the number of beds 
and the kind of furniture in the other rooms, and 
when taken to the ,yard, described the relative posi- 
tion of the trees, the flower-beds, and the peculiar 
make of fence, etc. All of which was admitted to be 
correct. 

THE FOLLOWING IS ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 

Subject— Miss K. Z. 

She was requested by the Eev. Mr. I to take a 

journey with him, and having consented, the follow- 
ing questions were asked and answered : 

Ques. — " Can you tell where we are now ?" 

A72S. — " In the cars." 

Ques. — " Where are we now ?" 

Ans. — "Somewhere down the country. I have 
never been here before." 

She then, at his request, described the house, its 
situation, and its peculiarities, etc. 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 135 

Ques. — " Who do you see in the house ?" 

Ans. — " I see but two in the back room." 

Ques. — " Will jou describe them ?" 

Ans. — " The one is a lady. She is small, has dark 
hair and eyes, and has lost four of her front teeth.''^ 

Ques. — "Correct. And the other ?" 

An^. — "Is a gentleman. He is stout, middle-aged, 
wears glasses, and is now engaged in reading a news- 
paper." 

I then asked Mr. I whether he was . sure that 

she had never seen the persons she had described ? 

He stated that he was satisfied that she had not. 
I then requested him to think of the first name of the 
gentleman, and she would be able to tell him what it 
was by reading his mind. 

This he seemed persuaded she could not do, and 
stated that if she did so, he would be obliged to 
believe in the science. Having stated that he was 
thinking of it I requested her to state what name he 
was thinking about. She stated that the name was 
Charles W- — . 

Eev. Mr. I . " Yes. And the lady's ?" 

Ans. — " Mary ." He was perfectly satisfied. 

I could illustrate this peculiar power by a number 
of other cases, but consider it unnecessary, and will 
proceed to examine the theory of Dr. Collyer re- 
specting this phenomenon. 

THEORY OF DR. COLLYER. 

With respect to the theory of reading the mind at 
a certain angle, I have but to say that it does not 



136 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

accord with my experience. As some persons, how- 
ever, may not have seen this theory, I quote the 
doctor's own words, printed in the ^* Albany Argus,^ 
as follows : — 

" I have always advocated the philosophy that the 
" nervous fluid was governed by the same code of 
" laws which governed light, heat, etc., as radiation 
"and reflection, and actually made a lady perform 
"the same class of phenomena which is the wonder 
" of travelers in the east. She was desired to look into 
" a cup of molasses (any other dark fluid will answer 
"the same purpose), and when the angle of incidence 
"from my brain was equal to the angle of reflection 
" from her brain, she distinctly saw the image of my 
*' thoughts at the point of coincidence, and gave min- 
*' ute descriptions of many persons whom she had no 
''idea of. She saw the persons and things in the 
"fluid only when the angles of thought converged." 
Again: In the doctor's work on " Psychography," 
etc., page 89, he remarks : — " I was not a little pleased 
on discovering that in Europe, some months after my 
' bowl of molasses ' experiment, the subject of PsY- 
CHOGRAPHY was occupying the attention of the 
ablest minds. The public will, therefore, suspend 
judgment, more particularly as I have experimen- 
tally shown the fact of the embodiment of thought 
before audiences of several hundreds in the city of 
Philadelphia, with entire success. 

" Only a few nights since it was repeated. The 
gentleman who came on the stage depicted on his 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 137 

mental vision, ' a liorse, a man and a horse,' which 
the recipient (Evan) gave loud and distinctly to the 
audience. Another gentleman came forward — the 
recipient declared he saw 'a large white marble 
building.' The United States Bank was the object 

thought of. On another, Mr. E came on the 

stage, and directed his thoughts into the ' bowl of 
molasses.' The recipient declared he saw a tall, 
stout, elderly gentleman with white beard and gown 
on ; he then saw a marble statue. The correspondent 
declared to the audience, that he was thinking in- 
tently of Lawyer Chancey, who corresponds exactly 
with that description ; and in the second instance, he 
was thinking of the marble statue of one of the lions, 
at the Exchange. 

'' These results have put the matter beyond all cavil 
and doubt ; I can repeat them any time under favor- 
able circumstances, such as are laid down in the 
pages of this work." 

Doctor Colly er has, no doubt, done much towards 
the advancement of the science in many parts of this 
country, and I am sorry that he has, by drawing 
hasty conclusions, left himself open to the shafts of 
those who are disposed to ridicule it. 

For my own part, I never doubted that his subjects 
saw what he has described, nor do I question the 
veracity of those concerned; but if the doctor had 
made the necessary experiments he would have soon 
found that the same could have been done at any angle 
without the aid of "that bowl of molasses" or any 



188 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

otlier agent, and that his subjects could have done i« 
as well by looking directly at his brain or mind as 
by any other method. The reason why his subjects 
could not (apparently) do it at any other aiagle than 
the one he stated is, because he pitched upon that angle, 
and they believed with him, that it could not be done 
at any other. Whether he made them believe so, or it 
was a belief originating with themselves, I will not 
pretend to say. But certain it is that, if subjects 
believe, or are made to believe that a certain thing 
cannot be done (either before or after they enter this 
state) they cannot do it for the simple reason that 
they do not try, and have predetermined that it is 
impossible. 

These are the facts, and it is very plain, that their 
looking and seeing at that angle only proves that 
they threw their minds there, and believing that they 
could see, did so. If, however, they had known the 
facts and their powers they could have thrown it to 
any other place, and have seen just as well under 
like circumstances. 

Their being able, also, to see, hear, smell, and taste, 
etc., from other parts of the body than which are 
used for those purposes in a natural state, will be the 
subject for another chapter. 

MENTAL ALCHEMY OR ELECTRIFYING. 

As there are still exhibitions in various parts of 
the country of the condition which it has pleased 
some to denominate " Mental Alchemy," and which 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 139 

is supposed to be induced by electricity, but is, in 
fact, only an offspring of the sympathetic doctrine, 
it may be proper here to say something in regard to 
it, which, however, will only be a repetition of what 
I have before stated. " Mental Alchemy" is simply 
a partial state of artificial somnambulism, in which 
some of the functions in certain organs act indepen- 
dent of the judgment and the will in the same facul- 
ties ; consequently, the subjects become credulous in 
the extreme, and not knowing that they can do other- 
wise are made to believe that white is black ; water, 
brandy ; ice, hot ; and other ridiculous contraries that 
the operator may imagine, or others invent for him. 

This, to say the least of it, is turning a useful sci- 
ence into ridicule, and is, at best, but folly in the 
extreme. It is a matter of regret and surprise to me 
to see those who make pretentions to intelligence, 
night after night encouraging, by their presence, 
scenes which are too ridiculous to draw anything 
from sensible persons but a smile of pity, as the sub- 
ject is not himself; and even a Daniel Webster, under 
like circumstances would, for the time being, become 
idiotic. From what has been said in previous chap- 
ters, it is very evident that electricity can have no 
agency in producing this condition, and it is equally 
absurd to suppose that the so-called operator can 
have absolute power over any one in this state, if the 
subject be properly instructed, or has a true knowl- 
edge of the facts. The apparent power exhibited is 
the result of a blind belief and non-resistance on the 



140 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

part of the subject, which a proper understanding of 
the case would dissipate to the four winds. In arous- 
ing them from this condition it is only necessary to 
draw their attention to the fact. Any exclamation on 
your part such as, Arouse ! awake ! or "All right !" 
will bring them to themselves again. This they could 
also do themselves if they would make the effort, 
and it is only because they have been taught other- 
wise that they permit themselves to be directed. But 
apart from the ridiculous position in which a subject 
is placed, much injury may be done to the brain by 
inexperienced persons, and the public would do well 
hereafter, to be cautious and reflect upon the conse- 
quences which might ensue, viz. : — that of remaining 
an idiot, before they trust so delicate an organ as the 
brain to the tender mercies of those who choose to 
play with it regardless of consequences, so that their 
own aggrandizement has been effected, or money is 
put into their pockets. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 141 



CHAPTEEXL 

I. — OF THE IDENTITY OF OTHER MYSTERIES "WITH THIS STATE. 

/^lljl ANY things are ascribed to a supernatural or 
(J If mysterious power, even at tlie present day^ 
^^^ wliicli are identical with this state ; and among 
V^ ^ the greatest of antiquity is the Oracle of 
Apollo of Delphi. 

It is not necessary for me to give a history of this 
oracle here, as I presume most of my readers are 
already acquainted with it, and it will be sufficient 
for my purpose to note that which has a direct bear- 
ing upon the question. I quote the following account 
of the manner in which a priestess was affected, after 
having been placed upon the tripod, to show the 
identity of her state with that of a person in a state 
of Artificial Somnambulism : 

'' Great preparations were made for giving mysteri- 
ousness to the oracle, and for commanding the respect 
paid to it. Among other circumstances relating to 
the sacrifices that were offered, we may observe that 
the priestess herself fasted three days, and before she 
ascended the tripod, she bathed herself in the foun- 
tain of Castalia. She drank water from that fountain, 
and chewed laurel leaves gathered near it. She was 
led into the sanctuary by the priests, who placed her 



142 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

upon the tripod. As soon as she began to be agitated 
by the divine exhalation, her hair stood on end, her 
aspect became wild and ghastly, her month began to 
foam, and her whole body was suddenly seized with 
violent tremblings. In this condition she attempted 
to escape from the prophets, who detained her by 
force, while her shrieks and bowlings made the 
whole temple resound, and filled the bystanders with 
sacred horror. At length, unable to resist the im- 
pulse of the god, she surrendered herself to him, and 
at certain intervals uttered from the bottom of her 
stomach, some unconnected words, which the pro- 
phets ranged in order, and put in form of verse, 
giving them connection, which they had not when 
they were delivered by the priestess. 

"The oracle being pronounced, she was taken off 
the tripod, and conducted back to her cell, where she 
continued several days to recover herself from her 
conflict." 

The priestess in the above account (with the excep- 
tion of her agitation and violent tremblings) was not 
exactly affected like those who enter this state at the 
present day ; but was identical with those who entered 
it under the care of Mesmer and his immediate 
followers. 

Such effects were in those times considered necessary 
particularly so in the case of the priestess, where it 
was of the greatest importance to give a mysterious 
character to the oracle, for the purpose of command- 
ing respect and of filling " the bystanders with sacred 
horror." 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 143 

Mesmer, considered it indispensable for the cure 
of diseases, and the subjects in both cases were made 
to helieve, that certain effects were to follow the respec- 
tive operations, which of course took place. 

I have frequently seen persons similarly affected, 
who had erroneous notions of the state, and I could 
produce like effects upon ignorant persons at almost 
any time; but it is highly improper and might be 
injurious. 

I have always found that the more intelligent the 
subject is, and the better the nature of the sleep is 
understood, the more he is at ease, and the less is 
seen of these unpleasant and unnecessary symptoms. 

With respect to the nature of the vapour or gas, 
which is said to have issued out of the mouth of the 
cavern : I have nothing to say further than, that if 
there was any escaping — that it was not in, my 
opinion, the nature of the gas which produced these 
effects ; because we know of none now that would ; 
those of the nitrous oxide being quite different. 
Coretus, who, it is said, first discovered its effects 
upon goats, prompted by curiosity, also approached 
the mouth of the cavern, and found himself seized 
with a like fit of madness, " skipping, dancing, and 
foretelling things to come." But, as we have no evi- 
dence upon which we can depend, this skipping, etc., 
being natural to goats, and not agreeing with its 
effects upon the priestess, we may think of it as we 
would of all other things that have been said about 
it, of which the following is a specimen : 



144: ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

" This place," speaking of the mouth of the cavern, 
" was treated with singular veneration, and was soon 
covered with a kind of chapel, which Pausanius 
tells us was originally made of laurel boughs, and 
resembled a large hut. This, says the Phocian tra- 
dition, was surrounded by one of wax, and raised 
by the bees." If we can believe this, we may believe 
all that has been said about it. 

II. — OF THE MYSTEKY PRACTISED BY THE MODERN MAGICIANS 

OF EGYPT. 

The mystery practised by the modern magicians 
of Egypt I ascribe to the somnambulic condition, 
and, although it is shrouded by magical incantations, 
charms, spells, and a host of other unnecessary ac- 
companiments, it is easily sifted and brought within 
the bounds of reason and philosophy. 

The folloAving account, taken from Lane's work 
on Egypt, will give the I'eader an idea of these mag- 
ical experiments : 

" A few weeks after my second arrival in Egypt, 
my neighbor, Osman, interpreter of the British Con- 
sulate, brought him to me, and I fixed a day for his 
visiting me to give me a proof of his skill, for which 
he is so much famed. 

"He came at the time appointed, about two hours 
before noon, but seemed uneasy, frequently looked 
up at the sky through the window, and remarked 
that the weather was unpropitious : it was dull and 
cloudy, and the wind was boisterous. The experi- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 145 

ment was performed witli two boys, one after another. 
With the first it was partly successful, but with the 
other, it completely failed. The magician said he 
could do no more that day, and that he would come 
in the evening of a subsequent day. 

'' He kept his appointment, and admitted that the 
time was favorable. While waiting for my neigh- 
bor, before mentioned, to come and witness the per- 
formance, we took pipes and coffee, and the magician 
chatted with me on different subjects. He is a fine, 
tall, and stout man, of a rather fair complexion, with 
a dark-brown beard ; is shabbily dressed, and gen- 
erally wears a large green turban, being a descendant 
of the Prophet. In his conversation he is affable and 
tinaffected. He professed to me that his wonders 
were effected by the agency of good spirits; but to 
others he has said the reverse — that his magic is 
Satanic. 

"In preparing for the experiment of the magic 
mirror of ink, which, like some other performances 
of a similar nature, is here termed 'darb elmendel,' 
the magician first asked me for a reed- pen and ink, a 
piece of paper, and a pair of scissors, and, having 
cut off a narrow strip of paper, he wrote upon it 
certain forms of invocation, together with another 
charm, by which he profeSjSes to accomplish the ob- 
ject of the experiment. He did not attempt to con- 
ceal these ; and on my asking to give me copies of 
them he readily consented, and immediately wrote 



146 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

them for me, explaining to me, at the same time, that 
the object he had in view was accomplished through 
the influence of the two first words, ' Tarshun ' and 
* Tarjooshun,' which, he said, were the names of two 
genii, his familiar spirits. 

" Having written these, the magician cut off the 
paper containing the forms of invocation from that 
upon which the other charms were written, and cut 
the former into six strips. He then explained to me 
that the object of the latter charm (which contains 
part of the twenty-first verse of the Soorat Kaf, or 
fiftieth chapter of the Kur-an) was to open the boy's 
eyes in a supernatural manner, to make his sight 
pierce into what is to us the invisible world. I had 
prepared, by the magician's direction, some frank- 
incense and coriander-seed, and a chafing-dish with 
some live charcoal in it. These were now brought 
into the room, together with a boy, who was to be 
employed — he had been called in, by my desire, from 
among some boys in the street returning from a 
manufactory, and was about eight or nine years of 
age. In reply to my inquiry respecting the descrip- 
tions of persons who could see in the magic mirror 
of ink, the magician said that they were a boy not 
arrived at puberty, a virgin, a black female slave, 
and a pregnant woman. The chafing-dish was placed 
before him and the boy, and the latter was placed 
on a seat. The magician now desired my servant to 
put some frankincense and coriander-seed into the 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 



147 



chafing-dish ; then, taking hold of the boy's right 
hand, he drew in the palm of it a magic square, of 
which a copy is here given : 



i 


> ? 


< 


w 


a 


4 

V 


A 


/ 


> 



^' The figures which it contains are Arabic num- 
erals. In the centre he poured a little ink, and de- 
sired to look into it and tell him if he could see his 
face reflected in it. He replied that he saw his face 
clearly. The magician, holding the boy's hand all 
the while, told him to continue looking intently into 
the ink, and not to raise his head. 

'' He then took one of the little strips of paper 
inscribed with the forms of invocation, and dropped 
it into the chafing-dish upon the burning coals and 
perfumes, which had already filled the room with 
their smoke , and as he did this, he commenced an 
indistinct muttering of words, which he continued 
during the whole process, excepting when he had to 



14:8 AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

ask the boy a question, or to tell liim wliat lie was 
to say. The piece of paper containing the words 
from the Kur-an he placed inside of the boy's takee- 
yeh, or skull-cap. He then asked him if he saw 
anything in the ink ? and was answered ' No ;' but 
about a minute after, the boy, trembling and seem- 
ingly much frightened, said: 'I see a man sweeping 
the ground !' * When he has done sweeping,' said 
the magician, 'tell me.' Presently, the boy said: 
'He has done.' The magician then again inter- 
rupted his mutterings to ask the boy if he knew 
what a ' beyrak ' (or flag) was ; and being answered 
'Yes,' desired him to say, 'Bring a flag.' The boy 
did so ; and soon said : * He has brought a flag.' 
' What color is it ?' asked the magician. The boy 
replied, ' Bed.' He was told to call for another flag ; 
which he did ; and soon after he said that he saw 
another brought, and that it was black. In like 
manner, he was told to call for a third, fourth, fifth, 
sixth, and seventh, which he described as being suc- 
cessively brought before him, specifying their colors, 
— white, green, black, red, and blue. The magician 
then asked him, (as he did also each time that a new 
flag was described as being brought,) ' How many 
flags have you now before you ?' ' Seven,' answered 
the boy. While this was going on, the magician 
put the second and third of the small strips of paper 
upon which the forms of invocation were written 
into the chafing-dish ; and fresh frankincense and 
)oriander-seed having been repeatedly added, the 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 149 

fumes became painful to tlie eyes. When the boy 
had described the seven flags as appearing to him, he 
was desired to say, 'Bring the Sultan's tent, and 
pitch it.' This he did ; and in about a minute after 
he said : ' Some men have brought the tent — a large, 
green tent — they are pitching it;' and presently 
added : ' They have set it up.' ' Now,' said the 
magician, 'order the soldiers to come, and to pitch 
their camp around the tent of the Sultan.' The boy 
did as he was desired, and immediately said : ' I see 
a great many soldiers, with their tents ; they have 
pitched their tents.' He was then told to order that 
the soldiers should be drawn up in ranks ; and hav- 
ing done so, he presently said that he saw them thus 
arranged. The magician had put the fourth of the 
little strips of paper into the chafing-dish, and soon 
after did ^e same with the fifth. He now said: 
' Tell some of the people to bring a bull.' The boy 
gave the order required, and said : ' I see a bull ; it 
is red ; four men are dragging it along, and three are 
beating it.' He was told to desire them to kill it, 
and cut it up, and to put the meat into saucepans 
and cook it. He did as he was directed, and de- 
scribed these operations as apparently performed 
before his eyes. ' Tell the soldiers,' said the magi- 
cian, ' to eat it.' The boy did so, and said : ' They 
are eating it. They have done, and are washing 
their hands.' The magician then told him to call for 
the Saltan; and the boy having done this, said; 'I 
see the Sultan riding to his tent on a bay horse, and 



150 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

he has on his head a high red cap ; he has alighted 
at his tent, and sat down within it.' ' Desire them to 
bring coffee to the Sultan,' said the magician, ^ and to 
form the court.' These orders were given by the 
boy, and he said he saw them performed. The ma- 
gician had put the last of the six little strips of paper 
into the chafing dish. In his mutterings I distin- 
guished nothino' but the words of the written invo- 
cation, frequently repeated, excepting on two or three 
occasions, when I heard him say, 'If they demand 
information, inform them; and be ye veracious^ 
But much that he repeated was inaudible; and as 
I did not ask him to teach me his art, I do not pre- 
tend to assert that I am fully acquainted with his. 
invocations. 

"■ He now addressed himself to me, and asked me 
if I wished the boy to see any person who was ab- 
sent, or dead. I named Lord Nelson, of whom the 
boy had evidently never heard; for it was with 
much difficulty that he pronounced the name, after 
several trials. The magician desired the boy to say 
to the Sultan, 'My master salutes thee, and desires 
thee to bring Lord ISTelson — bring him before my 
eyes, that I may see him, speedily.' The boy said 
so, and almost immediately added : ' A messenger 
has gone and has returned, and brought a man 
dressed in a black suit of European clothes ; the 
man has lost his left arm.' He then paused for a 
moment or two, and looking more intently and more 
closely into the ink, said : * ISTo ; he has not lost his 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 151 

left arm ; but it is placed to his breast.' This correc- 
tion made bis description more striking than it bad 
been witbout it, since Lord ISTelson generally bad 
bis empty sleeve attached to the breast of bis coat; 
bat it was tbe right arm tbat be bad lost. Witbout 
saying tbat I suspected tbe boy bad made a mistake, 
I asked tbe magician wbetber tbe object appeared in 
tbe ink as if actually before tbe eyes, or as in a 
glass, wbicb makes tbe rigbt appear tbe left. He 
answered, ' Tbat tbey appeared as in a mirror.' Tbis 
rendered tbe boy's description faultless. 

"Tbe next person I called for was a native of Egypt, 
who bas been for many years a resident in England, 
where be bas adopted our dress, and who bad long 
been confined to bis bed by illness before I embarked 
for tbis country. I thought tbat his name, one not 
very uncommon in Egypt, might make the boy de- 
scribe him incorrectly ; though another boy, on a 
former visit of tbe magician, had described this same 
person as wearing a European dress, like that in 
which I last saw him. In tbe present case the boy 
said, ' Here is a man brought on a kind of bier, and 
wrapped up in a sheet.' Tbis description would suit 
supposing the person in question to be still confined 
to his bed, or if he be dead. Tbe boy described his 
face as covered, and was told to order tbat it should 
be uncovered. This he did, and said, "His face is 
pale, and he has mustaches, but no beard,' which wos 
correct. 

"Several other persons were successively called for, 



152 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

but the boy's descriptions of tbem were imperfect, 
thougli not incorrect. He represented each object as 
appearing less distinct than the preceding one, as if 
his sight was gradually becoming dim ; he was a 
minute or more before he could give any account of 
the persons he professed to see towards the close of 
the performance ; and the magician said it was useless 
to proceed with him. 

"Another boy was then brought in, and the magic 
square, etc., made in his hand ; but he could see 
nothing. The magician said he was too old. 

" Though completely puzzled, I was somewhat dis- 
appointed with his performances, for they fell short 
of what he had accomplished in many instances in 
presence of certain of my friends and countrymen. 
On one of these occasions an Englishman present 
ridiculed the performance, and said that nothing would 
satisfy him but a correct description of the appear- 
ance of his own father, of whom he was sure no one 
of the company had any knowledge. The boy ac- 
cordingly having called by name for the person al- 
luded to, described 9, man in a Frank dress, with his 
hand placed to his head, wearing spectacles, and with 
one foot on the ground and the other raised behind 
him, as if he were stepping down from a seat. The 
description was exactly true in every respect ; the 
peculiar position of the hand was occasioned by an 
almost constant headache, and that of the foot or leg 
by a stiff knee, caused by a fall from a horse in hunt- 
ing. I am assured that on this occasion the boy ac- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 153 

curately described eacli person and thing tbat was 
called for. 

" On another occasion Shakspeare was described 
with the most minute correctness, both as to person 
and dress ; and I might add several other cases in 
which the same magician has excited astonishment in 
the sober minds of Englishmen of my acquaintance. 
A short time since, after performing in the usual 
manner by means of a boy, he prepared the magio 
mirror in the hand of a young lady, who, on looking 
into it for a little while, said that she saw a broom 
sweeping the ground without any body holding it, 
and was so much frightened that she would look no 
longer." 

From the above minute account, it is very evident 
that the different boys absolutely did see the images of 
the persons and things which, in most instances, they 
so correctly described, but it is also very apparent that 
they sometimes also imagined, and saw what they 
imagined, as is sometimes the case with subjects who 
look at things in a state of Artificial Somnambulism. 

From the same account it is also very plain that 
the magician himself was ignorant of its true nature ; 
and, although artful and calculating in his move- 
ments, was no doubt only following the routine or 
prescribed method of those from whom he had 
learned the mystery. 

I cannot subscribe to the idea that the frankincense 
or the coriander-seed had anything to do in produc- 
ing the effects, any more than the slips of paper with 



154 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

the written names of tlie genii upon them, the square, 
or the Arabic numerals therein placed, etc. 

It is very certain, too, that looking intently at 
the ink alone, without the magic square or any of 
the other mummeries, would have had the same 
effect upon the boys' eyes, and their ''trembling" 
and seeming " frightened," proves that they were en- 
tering another state ; and as they generally saw nothing 
before this took place, although asked, it renders the 
probability more conclusive. 

All the desires, questions, and commands, etc., 
about the flags, the Sultan, the soldiers, the pitching 
of the tents, and the killing and the eating of the 
bull, etc., were only so many artful or necessary 
ways of gaining time to ascertain whether the boys 
could see correctly — these things having all been 
imagined or thought of by the magician, and gotten 
from his mind by the boys, as they did also the image 
of Lord IN^elson, Shakspeare, and the rest from those 
of the persons who named them respectively and de- 
sired a description of them. 

I have had subjects in a state of Artificial Som- 
nambulism to do these things hundreds of times, 
and it is nothing more than clairvoyance or reading 
the mind, which, in the cases of the boys above de- 
scribed, I conceive was brought about in the follow- 
ing manner : 

In the first place, the magician addresses the indi- 
vidual and desires to know what he wishes to have 
brought before the eyes of the boy. His doing tliis 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 155 

naturally draws the boy's attention to the mind of 
the individual who is about to make the request, and 
as the individual utters the name he naturally forms 
the image of the person he desires to be called and 
seen by the boy in his own mind, and keeps the same 
image there more or less during the experiment. 
This image so formed, the boy, being clairvoyant, 
"would most naturally see and describe correctly, ac- 
cordiug as that image was formed perfectly in the mind 
of the individual, or as he (the boy) had looked with- 
out imagining. 

But it may be said that the boy did not enter the 
state of Artificial Somnambulism entirely, and there- 
fore could not have been clairvoyant. 

To this objection I reply that I have long since 
proved that it is possible for any part of the body to 
enter this state independent of the rest ; consequently 
the eye of the boy, or rather the necessary portion of 
the brain, may still have been in this condition. It 
is true the boys had their eyes open, but I must here 
also anticipate this objection by stating that it is pos- 
sible for any one to enter this state with the eyes 
open as well as with them shut ; and I have many to 
do so at pleasure, as the following conclusion of a let- 
ter from myself to the editor of the " Magnet," and 
published in that journal, will illustrate. In that 
letter I stated that experiments proved that clairvoy- 
ance or mind sight was entirely different and superior 
to the sight of the natural qjq, and that the many 
facts which were presented from day to day induced 



156 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

me to believe that the sense of sight or the natural 
eye could also be used at the will of the subject while 
in a somnambulic condition, if the lids were to remain 
open, independent of the mind's sight — clairvoyance 
— which they heretofore only used when the lids were 
closed. 

Accordingly I requested Miss to keep her 

eyes open while she entered the sleep. This she 
readily accomplished, and in about one minute she 
was in a perfect state of Artificial Somnambulism 
with the eyes open. The facts elicited were as follows : 
First; that she was enabled to see with either the 
mind or the natural eye as she felt disposed, but 
could not use both at one and the same time. Se- 
condly, when she looked with the eye it had a natural 
appearance, but when she looked with her mind, or 
clairvoyantly, the eye assumed a heavy or drowsy 
appearance. Thirdly, she could see me or anything 
else through the wall when she looked clairvoyantly, 
but could not when she looked with the natural eyes. 

Since that time I have had many others in this 
state with the eyes open, and have been enabled to 
perform many interesting experiments. Their ap- 
pearance is so perfectly natural when they look with 
the natural eyes, that I have had several, with proper 
instructions, to enter a room and to converse freelv 
with a number of ladies and gentlemen, without any 
one noticing that they were in this state until the fact 
was mentioned and the case explained. 

The above facts not only prove that they can have 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 157 

their eyes open while in this state, but that they can 
also be in it perfectly without its being noticed by 
those who do not examine into their condition partic- 
ularly, and there can be no question but that the 
same is the case with those who are practised upon by 
the Egyptian magicians. 

It is also very evident that the power of vision in 
the boys under the care of the Egyptian magicians is 
identical with and is nothing more than the same 
power of reading the mind, which subjects in a state 
of Artificial Somnambulism possess, and are simply 
the ideas or pictures formed in the minds of those 
who have made such requests. And when the boys 
do not imagine anything themselves, they have always 
described the persons exactly as the individual who 
made the request had pictured those persons in his 
mind, with their clothes on, and the peculiarities 
which belonged to them when they were alive. 

III. — OF THE "mysterious LADY." 

The " Mysterious Lady," who exhibited her clair- 
voyant powers^ etc., in the various cities, was also in 
a state of Artificial Somnambulism, with her eyes 
open ; and, although her experiments were very suc- 
cessful, they were, by no means, more so than any 
other good clairvoyant. 

lY. — OF THE EARTH MIRRORS. 

The earth mirror, so called by some, because it 
was supposed that certain persons, born in the month 



158 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

of December of any year, by taking it into a dark 
room and fixing their eyes intently upon it for some 
time, could see treasures, etc., whicb may have been 
buried in the earth. 

I am acquainted with a number of persons who 
believe most reverentially in the virtue of this glass, 
and whom all the philosophical arguments in the 
world would not convince to the contrary ; because 
they have seen persons who have (as they say), by 
looking into it, observed certain things at a distance 
which really took place, or were found to correspond 
to their statements, although they were entirely 
ignorant of the facts before they were desired to look 
for them. The virtue is entirely ascribed to the 
glass, and it is stated that some who have looked into 
it, frequently become so that they can look into it in 
''broad daylight," and see as well as they can when 
they take it into a dark room. 

This is nothinsr more than another method of 
throwing the " mind's eye" into the somnambulic 
state, rendering it clairvoyant, and I am persuaded 
that the same persons could do the same thing 
as well by looking at anything else, particularly 
if something else were substituted without their 
knowledge. 

I have seen several kinds of these glasses, and give 
on the next page an outline of two which I obtained. 
The first consists of a piece of common looking-glass 
about four inches square, fastened upon a piece of 
wood about the same size. Upon its surface is scratched 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 



159 



two circles, the one within the other. In the inside 
of these is a double triangle, also one within the other, 
with several strange names at various distances, both 
outside and inside of the circles and triangles. 

FIRST EARTH GLASS. 





^^^ 


___ .^^^^^^^^^ 11 ■! 1 = 


A. L 


y^^^^ 


/>r^%\ ^^^ 


Sandrach y[ 


/'^Eli 


/ / \ \ ^^ ^^<rS. Mesach 


X€y 




Ma \ \ ^^ ^V 


X"-/ 




M g \ \ ^^ ^k^ 


/^y 




f M \ \ ^^ ^^ 


/^/ 


"V / 


/ \ \ ri> X \ 


/ 1?/ 




/Uriel\\^ \\ 


A V 




\ \ ^ \ \ 




^ / / 


\ \ y** \ \ 


1^1 


J^ / / 


\ \ ^^ \ \ 


ft^/ 


^ / M 


\ x \ \ 




// 


\\". 11 




/ r* 


\ \ r* 


© / 


/ ® 
/ * 


*^\ \ 


1 * / 

11 # J 


f ^ 


* ■* \ \ 


I \ / / 


O 


*'» ■ \ \ / / 


\ \ / / 


.f* 


^^ \ \ / / 


\\// 


* 


^°' \\ // 


\X - A/ 1 


\ \ 8 O UI 


iaoitd«5i s n :} s / / 


V<rV 




y/C/ 


^^^K^ 


^y^\y^ oSau;oq« 


«3arao 


^-<; 


r — ^:::^^^^ »" 



The second is much smaller, and consists of a plain 
piece of glass, on the surface of which is also scratched 
two circles, the one within the other, and two double 
triangles, the planes of two crossing the planes of the 
other two, with various letters, characters, and num- 
bers placed around and between both. 



160 ARTIFICIAL S0:,1NAMBULISM. 

SECOND EAHTH GLASS. 




The second earth glass is considered of singular 
virtue, not only on account of the nature of its char- 
acters, etc., but because it is enclosed in a box made 
of wood which was once the bottom of a coffin. In this 
box, and beneath the glass, is placed a slip of paper 
upon which is written the first chapter of Genesis, 
together with the symbols of the various planets and 
other characters. 

Here mystery and superstition are again hand in 
hand ; but it is very certain that, looking steadily 
and intently at anything else in the dark, would 
answer the same purpose, because we cannot see 
either ; and it is only the fixing of the eye, together 
with the intense looking and the desire to see, which 
produces the effects which follow. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 161 

It is also very clear that the montli in whicli the 
person who looks, is born, has nothing to do with it 
an}^ more than the glasses, or the characters, etc., en- 
graven or scratched upon their surfaces. 

Many other mysteries, both ancient and modern, 
can be accounted for in the same way, and are un- 
doubtedly owing to the same cause, requiring only a 
proper investigation to make them understood. The 
following is of this stamp : 

Y. SECOND SIGHT. 

Many of the inhabitants of the western islands of 
Scotland are said to be possessed of this power. It 
is said to be a faculty of seeing things which are to 
come, or things done at a distance, and represented to 
them as if actually visible and present. 

An account of it is given in Johnson's journey to 
these islands, and it is said, that '' if a man be dying, 
or about to die, his image appears to them in its 
natural shape, etc., although they never saw his face 
before ; and it is believed, by some, that when a 
person be so seen by them, if he be not dead he will 
certainly die. 

" The power is also said to be hereditary, nor can 
the person exercise it at pleasure, or communicate it 
to another, but comes on him involuntarily and arbi- 
trarily, often to his great trouble and terror, and is 
held so much in discredit that none will counterfeit 
it, but, on the contrary, dissemble and conceal it." 

This is also nothing more than partial somnam- 
11 



162 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

bulism, and the "mind's eye" has fallen into this 
state naturally, or through the belief or fear on the 
part of the persons themselves. Their powers, how- 
ever, are also only those of other clairvoyants, and 
if they knew the true nature of the state, could so 
exercise them. I am acquainted with a number of 
persons who can exercise this power at pleasure , 
but their powers to foretell that which is yet to 
happen is limited. It is true they can see and tell 
what is passing at the time of looking at a distance, 
but not always unerringly that which is yet to trans- 
pire. 

Certain portions of the brain may at times become 
perceptive, and, as it were, reach out to a distance, 
independent of our knowledge ; and we may, in such 
cases, obtain knowledge, or have a presentiment of 
certain things happening at a distance, long before 
any positive information can be received through the 
usual channels of communication. Second-sight is 
this kind of perception or clearmindedness, and 
although it often amounts to a foreknowledge of 
events, it is not always unerringly correct. 

VI. — PHANTASMS. 

Phantasms are entirely different from second-sight. 
Phantasms are caused by fevers, or mental excite- 
ments of any kind ; and, in the case of M. Nicoli, 
described by himself, and quoted in Mr. Sunder- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM.. 163 

land's work on Pathetism as a case of second-sight, 
is one purely of this character, and brought about by 
*' an almost uninterrupted series of misfortunes," pro- 
ducing a derangement of the cerebral functions of 
one side of the head. 

I quote below the same case from the above work 
as one of phantasm purely, and entirely different 
from second-sight. The account was drawn up by 
M. Nicoli himself, and is as follows : 

" During the latter ten months of the year 1790, I 
had experienced several melancholy events, which 
affected me, particularly in September, from which 
time I suffered an almost uninterrupted series of 
misfortunes, which afflicted me with the most poig- 
nant grief. I was accustomed to be bled twice a 
year ; this was done on the 9th of July, but was 
omitted to be repeated at the end of the year. Less 
blood had consequently been evacuated in 1790 than 
was usual with me; and from September I was con- 
stantly occupied by business,- which required the 
most unremitting exertion, and which was rendered 
still more perplexing by frequent interruptions. 

"In January and February of the year 1791, I 
had the additional misfortune to experience several 
unpleasant circumstances, which were followed on 
the 24th of February by a most violent altercation. 
My wife and another person came into my apart- 
ment at ten o'clock in the morning, in order to con- 
sole me, but I was too much agitated by a series of 
incidents which had most powerfully affected my 



164 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

moral feelings, to be capable of attending to them. 
On a sudden, I perceived, at a distance of about ten 
paces, a form like that of a deceased person. 1 
pointed at it, asking my wife whether she did not 
see it ? It was but natural that she should not see 
anything ; my question, therefore, alarmed her much, 
and she sent directly for a physician. The phantom 
continued about eight minutes. I grew at length 
more calm, and being extremely exhausted, fell into 
a restless slumber, which lasted about half an hour. 
The physician ascribed the apparition to violent 
mental excitement, and hoped there would be no 
return ; but the violent agitation of my mind had 
in some way disordered my nerves, and produced 
farther consequences, which deserve a more minute 
description. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the 
form which I had seen in the morning reappeared. I 
was by myself when this happened, and, being rather 
uneasy at the incident, went to my wife's apartment, 
but there, likewise, I was followed by the apparition, 
which, however, disappeared at intervals, and always 
presented itself in a standing posture. About six 
o'clock, there appeared also walking figures, which 
had no connection with the first. 

"I cannot assign any other cause for all this, than 
a continued rumination on the vexations I had en- 
dured, which, though calmer, I could not forget, and 
the consequences of which I meditated to counter- 
act. These agitations occupied my mind three hours 
after dinner, just when digestion commenced. I con- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 165 

soled myself at length with respect to the disagree- 
able incident which had occasioned the first appari- 
tion ; but the phantasms continued to increase and 
change in the most singular manner, though I had 
taken the proper medicines, and found myself per- 
fectly well. 

" When the first terror was over, as I beheld these 
phantasms without great emotion, whilst taking them for 
what they really were — the remarkable consequences 
of an indisposition, I endeavored to collect myself as 
much as possible, that I might preserve a clear con- 
sciousness of the changes that should inwardly take 
place in me. I observed these phantasms very closely, 
and frequently reflected on my antecedent thoughts 
to discover, if possible, by means of what association 
exactly these forms presented themselves to my im- 
ao'ination. I thouo'ht at times I had found a clue: 
but, taking the whole together, I could not make out 
any natural connection between the state of my mind, 
my occupations, train of thoughts, and the multifa- 
rious forms which now appeared to me, then again 
disappeared. After repeated and close observations, 
and a calm examination, I was unable to form any 
conclusion relative to the origin and duration of the 
dift'erent phantasms which presented themselves to 
me. All that I could infer was, that while my 
nervous system was in such an irregular state, such 
phantasms would appear to me as if I actually saw 
and heard them ; that these illusions were not even 
modified by any known laws of reason, imagination, 



166 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

or the common association of ideas ; and that prob- 
ably other people, who may have had similar appa- 
ritions, were exactly in the same predicament. The 
origin of the individual forms which appeared to me 
were undoubtedly founded on the state of my mind ; 
but the manner in which it was thus affected will prob- 
ably remain as inscrutable as the origin of thought 
and reflection. 

" After the first day, the form of the deceased per- 
son no longer appeared, but in its place many other 
phantasms, sometimes representing' acquaintances, 
but mostly strangers. Those whom I knew consisted 
of both living and dead persons ; but the number of 
the latter was comparatively small. I observed that 
persons with whom I daily conversed did not appear 
as phantasms ; these representing chiefly persons who 
lived at some distance from me. I attempted to pro- 
duce at pleasure phantasms of persons whom I knew, 
by attentively reflecting on their countenance, shape, 
etc., but, distinctly as I recalled to my lively imag- 
ination the shapes of those persons, still I labored in 
vain to make them appear to me as phantasms, though 
I had before involuntarily seen them in that manner, 
and perceived them some time after, when I least 
thought of them. These phantasms appeared to me 
contrary to my inclination, as if they were presented 
to me from without, like the phenomena of nature, 
though they existed nowhere but in the mind. I 
could, at the same time, plainly distinguish between 
phantasms and real objects ; and the calmness with 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 167 

wlaicli I examined them enabled me to avoid com- 
mitting the smallest mistake. I knew it exactly 
when it only appeared to me, that the door was 
opening and a phantasm entering the room^ and 
when it actually opened and a real person entered. 
The phantasms appeared to me equally clear and 
distinct at all timeS; and under all circumstances, 
both when I was alone and when I was io company, 
as well in the day as at night, and in my own house 
as well as abroad. They were, however, ftss fre- 
quent when I was in the house of a friend, and rarely 
appeared to me when in the street. When I shut my 
eyes, these phantasms would sometimes disappear en- 
tirely, though there were instances when I beheld them 
with my eyes closed ; yet, when they disappeared on 
such occasions, they gradually reappeared when I 
again opened my eyes. I conversed occasionally 
with the physician and my wife respecting the phan- 
tasms which surrounded me at the moment. They 
appeared more frequently walking than at rest ; nor 
were they constantly present. They frequently did 
not appear for some time ; but always reappeared 
for a longer or shorter period, either singly or in 
company; the latter, however, was most often the 
case. 

" I generally saw human forms of both sexes, but 
they usually seemed not to take the smallest notice 
of each other, moving as in a market place, where all 
are eager to press through the crowd. At times, 
however, they seemed to be transacting business with 



168 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

eacli other. I also repeatedly saw people on horseback, 
dogs, and birds. All these phantasms appeared to 
me in their natural size, and as distinct as if alive, ex- 
hibiting different shades of carnation in the uncovered 
parts, as well as different colors and fashions of their 
dress, though the colors seemed to me to be paler 
than in real nature. None of the figures appeared 
particularly terrible, comical, or disgusting ; most of 
them being of an indifferent shape, and some having 
a pleasing appearance. The longer these phantasms 
continued to appear the more frequently did they re- 
turn, whilst at the same time they increased in num- 
ber. 

" About four weeks after their first appearance, I 
began also to hear them speak. They sometimes con- 
versed among themselves, but more frequently they 
directed their discourse to me. Their speeches were 
commonly short, and never of an unpleasant tenor. 
Several times I saw beloved and sensible friends of 
both sexes, whose addresses tended to appease my 
grief, which had not wholly subsided. These con- 
solatory speeches were in general addressed to me 
when I was alone ; sometimes, however, I was ac- 
costed by these consoling friends whilst in company, 
even while real persons were speaking to me. These 
consolatory addresses consisted sometimes of abrupt 
phrases, and at other times they were regularly con- 
nected. 

" Though both my mind and body were in a toler- 
able state of sanity at this time, these phantasms be- 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 169 

came so familiar to me that they did not cause me 
the slightest uneasiness. ' 

'' I even sometimes amused myself with surveying 
them, and spoke jocularly of them to the ph3^sician 
and my wife, yet I did not neglect to use the proper 
medicines, especially when they began to haunt me 
the whole day and even at night as soon as I awoke. 
At last it was agreed that leeches should again be 
applied to me, as formerly, which was accordingly 
done on the 20th of April, 1791, at eleven o'clock in 
the morning. Ko one was with me besides the sur- 
geon, but during the operation my chamber was 
crowded with human phantasms of all descriptions. 
This continued without interruption till about half- 
past four, when my digestion commenced. I then 
perceived that they began to move more slowly ; soon 
after their colors began to fade, and at seven o'clock 
they were entirely white, and moved very little, 
though the forms w^ere as distinct as before, growing 
however by degrees more obscure, yet not fewer in 
number as had generally been the case. The phan- 
tasms did not withdraw nor did they vanish, which 
previous to that time had frequently occurred. They 
now seemed to dissolve in the air, while fragments 
of them continued visible a considerable time. About 
eight o'clock the room was entirely cleared of my 
fantastic visitors. Since that period I have felt twice 
or three times a sensation as if these phantasms were 
going to reappear, without, however, actually seeing 
anything. The same sensation surprised me just be- 



170 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

fore I drew up this account, whilst I was examining 
some papers relative to these apparitions which I had 
drawn up in the year 1791.'' 

It is very evident from the above minute account 
that what was seen by M. Nicoli, were phantasms 
simply, and were produced by a determination of 
blood to certain portions of his brain. Persons labor- 
ing under fevers are often similarly affected, and in 
aggravated cases produce delirium, which is only a 
more general and a greater degree of the same affec- 
tion. Phantasms, as I have said, are caused by an 
undue excitement, from whatever cause, of the func- 
tions of the imagination and perception in the facul- 
ties of Seeing, Hearing, Individuality, Form, Size, 
Color, Configuration, Language, etc., independent of 
the functions of the will in the same faculties, and is 
entirely different from second-sight, which recognizes 
things and persons that really exist, and circumstances 
that are transpiring at the time in the outer world. 
M. ISTicoli saw involuntarily, and could not observe 
anything he might desire, although the same persons 
and things were seen by him involuntarily. 

Those who possess the power of second-sight I am 
persuaded could, if they knew the nature of their con- 
dition, use their clairvoyant powe«rs as well as those 
who are in a somnambulic state, and instead of its 
coming to them involuntarily, they could use the 
power at pleasure. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 171 




CHAPTEE XII. 

TRANSPOSITION OF THE SENSES. 

'HE transposition of the senses to the pit of the 
stomach and other parts of the body in cases 
of what has been termed Catalepsy, has been 
witnessed and recorded by men of the first 
standing and abilities, and is now almost uni- 
versally believed to be true. 

The descriptions given of it do not differ materially, 
and when a person is " suddenly seized," as is usually 
the case, *' the senses and power of voluntary motion 
are as suddenly suspended ; so that the patient remains 
fixed in the position in which he happens to be at 
the moment of seizure, and the limbs commonly re- 
tain any position into which they are put by external 
force. During the paroxysm the sensations are in 
general suspended ; the patient neither receives any 
impressions from external objects, nor retains any 
recollection of what happened during the fit. 

" The vital functions continue to be performed^ 
but more feebly ; the pulse and respirations are 
legular, but the former is smaller than in health ; the 
color of the countenance usually undergoes little or 
no change. After a duration, which varies in differ- 
ent instances, commonly after a few minutes, some- 



172 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

times after a lapse of a few hours, and occasionally, 
though rarely, after a continuance of three or four 
days, the paroxysm suddenly declines. The patient 
awakes, as it were, from a sleep, generally with deep 
sighing, and all the functions of the body are re- 
stored." 

These symptoms constitute what has been called by 
systematic writers a " perfect paroxysm." Yet many 
of these symptoms vary in different persons, and the 
following account of Mademoiselle Malanie by Dr. 
Durand, of Caen, has been quoted by many medical 
writers and published in many other works, both in 
Europe and this country. I here extract a part of 
the original account, which is as follows : 

" Six days after the first attack of hysteria the pa- 
tient became suddenly dumb, and continued so for 
three days, being unable to articulate a single word : 
on the fourth day she recovered the power of speech 
at the termination of a severe hysterical attack; the 
surprise, however, expressed by those about her at 
hearing her speak, threw her into a fresh fit, which 
lasted for three hours and ended in catalepsy ; this 
was on the 30th of August, 1841. From this period 
the patient was seized every day with several attacks 
of catalepsy alternating with hysteria, and lasting 
about half an hour. 

'' During the cataleptic accesses there was com- 
plete insensibility of every part of the body ; the 
limbs remained in the most fatiguing positions with- 
out stirring, the respiratory moverments were imper- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMN-AMBULISM. 173 

ceptible, and the pulsations of tlie heart, wliicli could 
scarcely be felt, were from sixty to seventy per 
minute. After a few days the cataleptic fits became 
longer, and lasted for several hours, being, however, 
occasionally interrupted for a minute or two when- 
ever the girl coughed. Sometimes she would turn 
round in her bed, or sit up; at others she would sud- 
denly start up, without opening her eyes, and place 
herself on the edge of the bed, or on some piece of 
furniture, in a most fatiguing posture ; in this state 
she would remain until a fit of coughing came on, or 
until she was brought back to her bed. Although 
the eyes were constantly shut, she avoided every obsta- 
cle carefully, and seemed heedless of risks which 
would have alarmed any one in a normal state. On 
one occasion she left her bed during a fit of coughing, 
ran to the window and opened it, and before any one 
could come to her assistance she had one foot out of 
the window, but the cough suddenly ceased, she be- 
came cataleptic, and remained in the same position 
until some people came and placed her in bed. 

" When the fits of hysteria and catalepsy ceased the 
patient recovered all her faculties, and merely com- 
plained of fatigue and her ordinary pain in the side. 
Five weeks after the first attack of catalepsy Mdle. 
Malanie fell several times into a state of natural 
somnambulism. She would get up without opening 
her eyes, walk about her room, arrange her furniture, 
and enter into conversation with those about her, 
often mentioning circumstances which she would 



174 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

have wislaed to conceal ; after remaining in this state 
for several hours she fell into a state of catalepsy, indi- 
cated by apparent suspension of the respiration and 
complete silence. On the 12th of October, a few daj^s 
after her first access of somnambulism, I found the 
patient in a state of catalepsy. Having placed my 
hand on the epigastric region, I noticed that her 
countenance became expressive of pain. I then placed 
my lips on the pit of her stomach, and asked her 
several questions. To my astonishment she answered 
correctly ; for, although I had read most of the histo- 
ries of this kind recorded in different works, I did 
not believe one of them. During the first examina- 
tion I made numerous experiments, which led me to 
conclude that there was a transposition of the five senses 
to the pit of the stomach. On the evening of this day I 
made fresh experiments, during three hours, in the 
presence of numerous witnesses, who were not less 
surprised than myself. In a word, during two months, 
I renewed the experiments daily, and often several 
times a day, making use of every precaution to avoid 
deception, and having numerous witnesses around 
me." 

I ascribe the above results to the manner in which 
the doctor proceeded, and they would have been 
much more perfect if he had understood her powers. 
He succeeded in drawing her attention to her stomach, 
and found that she answered questions correctly, 
which he, not knowing better, had addressed only to 
that part. She could have answered the same ques- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 175 

tions just as well if he had applied his lips to any- 
other part of her body, because all persons in this 
state possess such powers ; and I have seen the same 
transposition effected at the will of the subject, in 
many cases of Artificial Somnambulism, by simply 
requesting them to throw their minds to the stomach 
or any other part of the body. She could have done 
the same if she had attempted it, either at his request 
or of her own accord. But further, he goes on to 
say — " I shall now relate the results of these experi- 
ments. During the cataleptic state the muscles pre- 
sented three different conditions. Sometimes they 
were all relaxed, and the limbs could be placed in 
any position, which they retained, however fatiguing 
the posture might be ; at other times all the muscles 
were in a state of rigid contraction; at others again, 
they were relaxed, and the limbs fell down when 
raised from the body." 

These conditions of the muscles, etc., I have also 
witnessed a thousand times in cases of Artificial 
Somnambulism, and are natural to this state when 
the mind of the patient is not placed upon them, and 
can be assumed by them at pleasure, viz. : — If the 
arm be raised and they have not their mind expressly 
upon it, it will remain in that position ; simply be- 
cause it is as easy for them to have it in that position 
as in any other,. and if their attention be called to it, 
and the question is asked: Why do you hold your 
arm in that position ? they will tell you, with the 
utmost candor, that they did not know that it was 



176 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

raised ; and if they do not, by an express act of tlieir 
will, cliange the position it will remain there — no 
matter how awkward it may seem — for an indefinite 
period. The doctor also stated, that " there was no 
sensibility in any part of the body except over the 
pit of the stomach, the palms of the hands, and the 
soles of the feet. Thus, we might pinch the skin, or 
pierce it with pins, or pull out the hair, tickle the 
nose, etc., without eliciting any sign of feeling. On 
the contrary, if the pit of the stomach, soles of the 
feet, or palms of the hands were touched, even with 
the point of a feather, the girl immediately withdrew 
the part touched, and her countenance indicated dis- 
pleasure. When a Leyden jar was placed in commu- 
nication with the parts just named, she had a violent 
commotion, or was suddenly awakened, but the jar 
might be discharged on any other part of the body 
without producing the slightest effect. 

" The ears appeared to be insensible to sound, the 
loudest noise did not attract her attention, but when 
a small bell was agitated over the sensitive parts her 
countenance showed she heard the noise. If the lips 
were placed in contact with the sensitive parts she 
heard everything that was said, although the voice 
was so low that it could not possibly reach the ears. 

*' Her answers were delivered in an exceedingly low 
tone, and, general!}?- speaking, the person appointed to 
catch them would repeat them without hearing the 
question asked. 

" The patient never spoke, except when her limbs 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 177 

were in a state of relaxation ; during tlie rapid cata- 
leptic state the tongue and organs of speech, were 
immovable. 

'' The senses of taste and smell were not exercised 
by their natural organs, but were very acute in the 
sensitive parts. Thus, we filled the nose with assa- 
foetida or tobacco, placed bottles of ether, concen- 
trated ammonia, etc., under the nose, without produc- 
ing the least effect ; but when a small portion of a 
sapid body was placed in contact with the sensitive 
parts the patient distinguished it at once. Thus, she 
recognized and named, one after another, the syrup 
of poppies, vinegar, gum, and capillaire, wine, water, 
orange flower water, seidlitz water, currant jelly, etc., 
although only one or two drops of each substance 
were placed on the palm of her hand. When a few 
grains of snuff were placed on the sole of her foot she 
sneezed at once, and thus easily distinguished French 
snuff from English snuff. 

"Although the result of my first experiments 
induced me to think the sense of vision was trans- 
posed as well as the other senses, subsequent trials 
showed that what I had regarded as vision was noth- 
ing more than an exquisite sense of touch. When 
an object was placed on any of the sensitive parts, and 
she was asked if she saw it, she answered 'yes,' and 
immediately named the object if she was acquainted 
with it ; or if not, gave a correct description of the 
body. Thus, she always detected a watch if placed 
over the pit of the stomach, and never failed to tell 



178 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

whether it was made of gold or silver, going or stop- 
ping. If asked the hour she would answer pretty 
correctly as to the true time of day ; but if the hands 
of the watch were designedly changed she always 
failed to tell the time they marked. She could dis- 
tinguish and name every kind of French coin placed 
in her hand, but not the name of the sovereign in 
whose reign they were struck ; she could distinguish 
a bit of silk from a bit of cloth, but not their respec- 
tive colors. 

"At the second sitting she succeeded in spelling 
the word commerce, written in large letters, and placed 
upon the pit of her stomach; this required considera- 
ble effort, and she complained for a long time of 
fatigue. In subsequent experiments, however, she 
was never able to distinguish any of the letters of the 
alphabet, when placed in contact with the sensitive 
parts." 

I have seen all the above peculiarities in persons 
who were in a state of Artificial Somnambulism, and 
have performed similar experiments with many of 
them, not only in the above manner, but also by 
placing things on various other parts of their bodies 
and directing their minds to them. The experiments 
'succeeded just as well when the articles were placed 
at a distance as when in actual contact with their 
bodies. 

If the snuff which was placed to the soles of Made- 
moiselle Malanie's feet had been taken to the next 
room and her mmdi properly directed to it, she could 



ARTIFECIA]^ SOMNAMBULISM. 179 

have distinguished between the French and the Eng- 
lish kinds as well as if placed on any of what he 
supposed to be the only sensitive parts. 

Her failing, in many of the experiments made to 
test her powers of vision, was owing to the doctor 
not drawing her attention to them properly, or a 
carelessness or unwillingness on her part to do them 
at all ; and I am persuaded that, if she had been 
properly directed, or had been perfectly willing on 
her own accord, she could have done so correctly as 
well at a distance as if placed in actual contact with 
her body. 

I can therefore see no essential difference in what 
is called catalepsy and that which I denominate Arti- 
ficial Somnambulism. The first is fallen into acci- 
dentally, and the subjects are ignorant of their 
powers, or their condition, in which accidental or 
hysterical causes have placed them ; while the latter 
is induced by instructions or the will of the subject, 
with a full knowledge of the condition and their 
powers therein. 

Her becoming rigid at one time, and relaxed at 
another, v»^as an act of her own will, or because she 
thought it must be so; but if she had known her 
powers, she could have caused or prevented it at 
pleasure. She could also have translated her sensi- 
bility, etc., to any other part of her body as well as 
to her stomach, the palms of her hands, and the soles 
of her feet, and could have rendered the most sensible 
parts insensible, and performed all the above experi- 
ments at -any other point at pleasure. 
10 



180 ARTIFICIAL SOMJUMBULISM. 

"What bas been related of her hearing at these 
points would at first appear ridiculous, and it would 
be very natural to suppose that if she heard a small 
bell, or even a whisper, at any part of her body, that 
she could also hear a very loud noise made in the 
same room. The reason, however, why she did not, 
was because she believed that she could not, and paid 
no attention to anything that was not held to those 
parts ; and is upon the principle that they hear, see, 
feel, taste, or smell nothing but that which their at- 
tention is placed upon ; as is the case also with most 
persons in a state of Artificial Somnambulism. 

I have seen but one genuine case of what has been 
termed catalepsy. This was in a girl about seven- 
teen years of age, and was brought on by repeated 
attacks of hysteria, produced, in the first instance, 
by a dread of witches, which her grandmother made 
her believe were afflicting her. 

While in this condition, she was perfectly rigid 
and motionless, with an apparent suspension of all the 
senses. I relieved her, however, instantly, by stating 
aloud (so that she might hear it, if paying attention 
to me) that I could do so by placing my hand upon 
her forehead. I no sooner had done so than she 
awoke, and, although somewhat confused in her ideas, 
and having a silly expression, she gradually recovered, 
and has since remained entirely free from it. This 
case was identical with those of catalepsy, and very 
much resembled the condition which is often wit- 
nessed and produced by religious excitement. 



AKTIFICTAL SOMN"AMBULISM. 181 

I relieved her because sbe believed that I could. If 
she had not had that belief, or had not been paying 
attention to me, I might have worked with her for 
hours, or even days, without effect, as those who at- 
tended her had frequently done before. Such is the 
power of mind in this state, not only over affections 
of this kind, but many others which are usually con- 
sidered diseases. The power or influence of the mind 
over like diseases in our waking moments has been 
much overlooked, and the influence is an hundred 
fold greater when in a state of Artificial Somnambu- 
lism. I have lately seen many affections, which were 
considered incurable, yield to the proper direction of 
the subject's mind while in a somnambulic state, after 
long and skilful courses of medicine had entirely 
failed. It is not the imagination, however, which 
produces these effects, but a fixed and determined 
resolution, on the part of the subjects, that it shall be 
otherwise when they awake. But I shall treat of 
this more fully hereafter. 



182 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTEE XIIL 

NATURAL SLEEP. 

LEEP is tlie more or less complete suspension 
of the faculties of the body ; and, when per- 
fect, the person is without sensation, volition, 
action, or consciousness, and the portion of 
existence passed in this state is a perfect 
blank. It is well known, however, that sleep is not 
always perfect, and, as I have before stated, that it 
was possible for one or more of the senses, functions, 
or faculties, etc., to enter the somnambulic state ; or, 
when all were in this condition, it was possible for 
one or the other of the same functions, etc., to be 
awakened independent of the rest. This is also the 
case with the same functions, etc., in a natural sleep ; 
but the awaking or putting to sleep cannot be accom- 
plished by an act of the subject's will, as in the for- 
mer case, and is usually the result of fatigue or 
wakefulness in those faculties, etc., which are so af- 
fected. When one or more of the functions awake, 
dreaming ensues, and the mental conceptions, etc., are 
incongruous, or otherwise, according to the number 
and nature of the functions and faculties which may 
be awake, etc. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 183 




CHAPTEE XIY. 

NATUEAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

ifl ANY authors have given descriptions of this 
state, in which the subjects are said to have 
performed various feats unconsciously, or at 
least knew nothing about them when awoke ; 
such as getting up, opening the doors and 
windows, going to the barn and harnessing horses, 
crossing bridges, or even walking on the tops or eaves 
of houses, and various other feats, for a detailed ac- 
count of which I must refer the reader to the many 
accounts already published. 

That it is possible for some to fall into a state of 
this kind is now generally believed to be true ; and 
the circumstances which have happened and the feats 
which some have performed while in it are not now 
doubted by those who have made the subject their 
study. It would seem that it is as natural for some 
to fall into this state as it is for others to fall into a 
natural sleep ; but it is impossible for any one to tell 
why they fall into one or the other ; and it is a ques- 
tion in my mind whether we may not all have been 
in it at times without our having been conscious of it 
when we awoke. 

It is very certain, however, that before any one 



184: AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

can enter either of tlie sleeps that they must forget 
themselves. 

This is, as I have before stated, also the case with 
hose who enter the sleeping condition of the arti- 
ficial state ; and those who are enabled to forget them- 
selves quickly, for the most part enter the state 
readily. But losing themselves very soon is not all 
that is necessary, for some do this at once, yet fall 
into a natural sleep. 

Those, however, who are self-possessed, and can ab- 
stract or withdraw their minds from their surround- 
ings, and can fix it determinately and confidentially 
upon the result, commonly enter the artificial state 
with the most facility. 

When a person has once been in a state of natural 
somnambulism, it may or may not become a habit ; 
and I have known some to be cured of the habit by 
flagellation, fright, or the application of cold water. 
In these cases, the fear of these measures operate 
against falling into it, and shows that, when there is 
anything upon the mind of the subject, that it oper- 
ates as much against entering it in a natural w^y as 
it does in the artificial. 

The phenomena in this state are precisely like those 
in the artificial, with the exception of what is caused 
by the manner of entering it. That is, in a natural 
state, they do not generally converse with any one, 
and commonly awake when spoken to ; while in the 
artificial, if their mind is otherwise engaged, they hear 
and speak to the person into whose care they have 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 185 

entrusted tlaemselveS; and no one else. The reason 
why they hear him while in an artificial state is, 
because it is expected or has been agreed upon to 
do so before they entered it, and their attention while 
in it is fixed upon him ; yet they can hear and speak 
to any one else whenever they please, which I believe 
could also be done by those in a natural state if they 
knew their powers. 

I have seen persons in the artificial state to resem- 
ble every variety of natural somnambulism from a 
mere inability to move to catalepsy or the most per- 
fect states, and have no doubt that they are one and 
the same state, varying only in degree or attended by 
peculiarities which are constitutional, or have been 
caused by a belief that they must be so, whether that 
belief has been instilled by others or has originated 
with themselves. 

I. — TRANCE. 

Trance has long been supposed to be a state in 
which the soul has left the body and passed into re- 
gions of celestial beings, or wrapped in visions of 
future and distant things, etc. 

As I have never seen a case of trance, properly so 
called, I cannot say that I understand what is the true 
nature of the condition, but presume it to be a som- 
nambulic state, in which the subject for a certain 
period remains in an unconscious condition, or roves 
about in space, remembering what has transpired or 
not, as the functions of memory, etc., in the various 



186 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

organS; were active or not, and awaking when the 
mind returned. The following is a case in point 
with my explanation, which was published in the 
Daily EnqidreVf of Cincinnati, May 15th, 1869. 

From the South Bend {Ind.) National Union. 

AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE — ALLEGED WITCHCRAFT — A YOUNG GIRL 
IN A TRANCE ELEVEN "WEEKS — QUEER REVELATIONS. 

Some weeks ago it was our intention to lay the 
facts of the following very singular case before our 
people, but at the request of the physician. Dr. Fletch- 
er, have been waiting for further developments. 

North of the village of Mishewaka lives a well- 
to-do farmer named Jacob Martin, a Pennsylvania 
Dutchman. Mrs. Martin was born in Germany, but 
the language used in the family for years has been 
English, the parents preferring to have the children 
speak that instead of the German language. Mr. 
M.'s mother had formerly lived in the family and 
slept with Julia, a girl about thirteen years of age. 
According to the statements of several who have 
visited the family, the old lady has for some time had 
the unenviable reputation of being a witch. About 
a year ago it was not found agreeable to have her in 
the family, so she was removed to Mishewaka. 
Shortly after, Julia w^s attacked with rheumatism, 
and in a short time her limbs swelled so that they had 
to be bandaged. She had to be cared for like an in- 
fant from this time until about ten weeks ago, when 
she fell into a trance, which lt),sted for three days, 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 187 

during whicli time slie took no nourishment — appa- 
rently in a deep sleep, from which no one could suc- 
ceed in waking her. Several physicians visited her, 
but could not determine what the symptoms be- 
tokened. Dr. Fletcher, of our city, was at this time 
called, who pronounced it catalepsy, caused by spinal 
diflS-Culty. On the evening of the third day she awoke 
in convulsions, during which time she bit her tongue 
so that a spoon, covered with cloth, had to be kept in 
her mouth. Several thicknesses of the cloth were 
bitten through in a few minutes. During a lucid in- 
terval she made startling revelations in regard to her 
grandmother — asserting that she had bewitched her, 
and was endeavoring to make her chew her tongue 
out, to prevent her telling the strange things which 
had been revealed in the visions. Her conversation 
was carried on in " High " G-erman, which had never 
been spoken in the family, and much of which they 
could not understand. When they did not compre- 
hend her, she talked the Pennsylvania Dutch quite as 
fluently, although she never was able to speak a con- 
nected sentence in either language before. She also 
related a circumstance regarding some ladies of South 
Bend. Upon investigation it was found to be reported 
correctly. Told of some persons who were on the 
way to see her, but had met with an accident, having 
" broke down in the mud." Shortly after, the ladies 
arrived and stated that they " were detained by the 
breaking of their vehicle near South Bend." 

On Sunday last she was conscious about an hour, 



188 AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

at whicli time she insisted that it was the influence of 
her grandmother which caused her illness. She wept 
bitterly when she spoke of going away again ; said 
she feared she might never see them again, but stated 
that she "would be back again on Wednesday, if 
permitted to return." When asked if she did not 
want something to eat, she stated that she had eaten, 
although she had taken no nourishment for several 
days. When questioned as to the kind of food, she 
said, " We eat manna where I've been." 

On Wednesday, about noon, she suddenly awoke 
from her long trance, and stated that " God had told 
her that she could sit up at the table and eat anything 
she wanted." At her urgent request her father lifted 
her from the bed where she had lain helpless so many 
weeks,' and placed her in a chair at the table, when 
she helped herself to potatoes, bread and butter, fried 
eggs, and pie ; everything but meat she partook of 
freely, and when her mother, frightened at the quan- 
tity she was eating, chided her, saying she feared the 
consequences, the girl stated that God had told her 
nothing she ate would hurt her, and that she must 
cheer them (her parents) up. They had been low- 
spirited for- many weeks, and now must be encouraged. 
There had been evil spirits in possession of her, she 
said, for ten weeks, but the good spirits had overcome 
them. She stated that the doctor was giving her just 
the medicine she needed, with this exception, that 
since he had seen her she had a soreness in her throat 
and lungs ; and she wished them to write to him for a 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 189 

prescription to remove that difficulty. Upon being 
laid back in the bed, her voice changed and she spoke 
as follows : 

" I am Julia's aunt (naming an aunt who had died 
in Germany). You have had a very sick girl. She 
is not now exactly sick, but will show a change in a 
few days. If God should take her away, you must 
not mourn for her, for she is His child. I think, 
however, that she will be permitted to remain with 
you." 

She also told several other singular things, which 
we are requested to withhold at present. On Wednes- 
day afternoon, when we last saw Julia, she was in 
that same death-like stupor that has characterized her 
disease for nearly eleven long weeks. Her body is 
wasted to a mere skeleton. Altogether it is one of 
the most singular cases of which there seems to be 
any record. 

WITCHCRAFT AND SOMNAMBULISM. 

To the Editors of the Enquirer : 

In your issue of yesterday I noticed, on the third 
page of your interesting paper, an article describing 
an alleged case of witchcraft, etc., of which, if you 
will allow me, I will give the explanation. I have 
made the subject under consideration and its connec- 
tions a specialty, and have studied it for the last 
thirty-five years, and was in hopes that the ignorance 
of the age of Cotton Mather had passed away forever, 
but I am sorry to see that so few still understand the 
nature of the case. 



190 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

To be perfectly understood, it will . be necessary to 
make a few preparatory remarks, and in doing so 
will be obliged to condense matters by simply giving 
the facts without entering into lengthy explanations 
at this time. 

The case of the girl above alluded to is simply 
one of natural somnambulism, in which the subject is 
unconscious of her powers, and consequently swayed 
by what she has been made to believe before she fell 
into that condition. All physicians, who have made 
the subject of somnambulism their study, know full 
well that catalepsy, clairvoyance, and her speaking 
in a language foreign to her previous waking mo- 
ments, etc., are powers, symptoms, and acquirements 
natural and possible to persons while in that 
condition. 

In the artificial somnambulic state — or, in what 
has been called the Mesmeric or animal magnetic 
condition, precisely the same powers, sympathies, etc., 
are possible — and the only difference between the 
two states is that, in the latter, they can be taught to 
make themselves rigid, or cataleptic, clairvoyant, etc., 
at will, and to awaken or fall into the state at pleasure. 
These facts, I am aware, are not generally known ; 
but there is no excuse for them being so, as an un- 
prejudiced investigation would soon prove, what I 
have stated, to be true. Permit me, in explanation, 
further to state, that the girl had an attack of rheuma- 
tism — a very natural result of taking cold, and which 
generally arises from imprudence or a transgression 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 191 

of the laws of health, without any reference to imagi- 
nary causes — of which witchcraft is the most impos- 
sible. Her falling into what was supposed to be a 
trance condition, to my mind, was clearly only a 
natural somnambulic condition (into which thousands 
of other persons have fallen — and are daily doing so 
now — without any reference being had to witchcraft 
as the cause). The case of the girl is only an extreme 
of the same condition, and is always the result of 
natural causes, while the seeming convulsions, which 
were exhibited, were occasioned by the girl's imagi- 
nation — having been taught^ and believing, that her 
grandmother was really and truly what had been rep- 
resented to her, viz. : a witch. 

The High and Low Grerraan spoken by her '* in 
her lucid intervals" — and which was foreign to her 
before she entered that condition — was acquired during 
the time she was in that state; and many similar 
cases have been recorded in medical works, and are 
perfectly familiar to those who understand the true 
nature of the condition, and the powers of persons 
whil^in it. 

The circumstance she related in regard to some 
ladies of South Bend was simply a case of clairvoy- 
ance, and similar feats of seeing are accomplished 
every day by hundreds of other clairvoyants, and is 
the result of natural powers possessed by all who can 
get the eye into a somnambulic condition. 

Believing that she was under the influence of her 
grandmother caused all the difi&culty and her misery, 



192 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

and if slie had known her powers while in the condi- 
tion she could have thrown herself out of it or fallen 
into it at pleasure, or could have done either at any 
moment she decided upon. 

What she said in regard to God, evil and good 
spirits, and the medicines she needed, etc., was real to 
her, but the cause was certainly the result of her 
mind, and not understanding the nature of her condi- 
tion, she was, of course, influenced by circumstances, 
ignorance, and her surroundings. 

In explanation of what was spoken through her, 
in the last paragraph, by her deceased aunt, I have 
but to say that she was then, also, in a somnambulic 
state, and that if disembodied spirits can speak through 
persons at all, it can only be done while they are in 
that condition. 

This, however, is a matter for all to decide for 
themselves. I can here only state facts, and hope 
that this interesting subject will receive more atten- 
tion from scientific minds than has heretofore been 
bestowed upon it. Eespectfully, 

WM. B. FAHNESTOCK, M.D., 

Of Lancaster, Penna. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 193 




CHAPTER Xy. 

OF INTUITION. 

fJSTTUITION is supposed, by some, to be a 
faculty possessed by somnambulists, and is 
described in the "Practical Manual of Animal 
Magnetism," by Dr. A. Teste, as " a sublime 
instinct which all at once initiates the indi- 
viduals, in whom it is developed, into the most 
obscure mysteries of his intimate nature." 

" It never," he continues, " could be imagined with 
what tact, accuracy and precision, somnambulists 
account for anything which takes place within them. 
They are literally present at the performance of all their 
organic functions ; they detect in them the slightest 
disorder, the minutest change. There are no affections 
so slight or so latent, even those which, at the com- 
mencement of their existence, not only do not give 
occasion to any external symptoms, but do not betray 
themselves by any species of internal suffering ; there 
are none, I say, which escape the investigation of the 
somnambulist. Then of all this he forms a clear, 
exact, and mathematical idea. He could tell, for 
instance, how many drops of blood there are in his 
heart ; he knows, almost to a gramme, how much 
bread it would require to satisfy his appetite at the 



194 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

moment, how many drops of v/ater would be neces- 
sary to satisfy his thirst, and his valuations are in- 
conceivably exact. Time, space, forces of all kinds, 
the resistance and weight of objects, his thoughts, or 
rather his instinct measures, he calculates, appreci- 
ates all these matters by a single glance of the eye." 

I have made the above extract, in the first place, 
to show the extent of knowledge upon this subject in 
France at the present time; and, in the second place, 
as an apology for those who nave heretofore believed 
in the science. This is but a specimen, however, of 
the hundred thousand absurdities which have been 
ascribed to somnambulists, and it is no wonder that 
the intelligent part of the community should have 
doubted the whole, when such palpable errors have 
been proclaimed and upheld by the professed leaders 
of the science. 

When somnambulists enter the state under the 
belief that they have such extraordinary powers as 
Dr. Teste has ascribed to them, whatever they may 
say or predict shall happen to themselves, will certainly 
take place ; but what they say or predict of any other 
person will generally be incorrect, particularly if that 
person has not been made acquainted with what has 
been said. 

This proves that what they determine upon is the 
cause of the effect upon themselves, and consequently, 
is a result of a predetermination on their part that it 
shall be so. 

This is the reason why Dr. Teste's patients told 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 195 

correctly what lie stated ; but this correctness will 
only hold good when they speak of matters which 
are connected with themselves. 

In concluding the same article upon intuition the 
doctor himself, is inclined to doubt the truth of his 
assertions, and, although he does not altogether recant 
what he has said, he attempts, by calling clairvoy- 
ance to the aid of intuition, to explain the difficulty, 
and says that : 

" Though the phenomena of vision contribute much 
in lucid somnambulists to perfect and probably to 
rectify intuition, it is still beyond all doubt that this 
latter is not necessarily subordinate to a perfect clair- 
voyance. I admit, however, that the integrity of the 
one of two faculties seems to me a guarantee for the 
excellence of the other ; and as we possess no means 
of verifying most of the phenomena *f intuition, I do 
not give implicit credence to these phenomena, except 
in the case of somnambulists endowed with clair- 
voyance. 

" Intuition is to clairvoyance what physiology is to 
anatomy, with this difference, however, that somnam- 
bulists, even the least lucid, feel a priori the vital 
actions which are taking place within them, and have 
no occasion for organ ographic notions in order to be 
endowed with a very passible physiological appre- 
ciation." 

It is very evident, to my mind, that intuition plays 

no part in obtaining correct information of any kind, 

and all that is or can be obtained by somnambulists 
11 ^ 



196 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. ^ 

or persons in any other state, is tlarough the senses or 
faculties properly so called. 

I deny that it is possible for the best somnambu- 
lists to do what has been above ascribed to them. 
They can estimate or guess as well as when awake ; 
but if they are not very careful, may be as often 
wrong as they would be in a natural state. I admit 
that all their faculties, while in this state, are capable 
of becoming more active than when awake ; and on 
that account they may often have, perhaps, estimated 
better than they could have done when in a natural 
state ; but I deny that they have or can gain any 
correct knowledge by what is called intuition or 
instinct. The words intuition and instinct are under- 
stood to mean " Knowledge not obtained by deduc- 
tion of reason, or an internal impulse to act in a certain 
way in ignorance of the cause." 

There is a certain craving or a propensity in each of 
the faculties, produced by the activity of the func- 
tions (love) in each of the organs, and which activity 
is, in my opinion, always brought about by the out- 
ward presentation of something through one or more 
of the senses, or by a corresponding idea in the mind 
producing the necessary stimulus ; but I cannot con- 
ceive that this is even intuition or instinctive, but, in 
every case, a produced inclination or propensity to act 
in a certain way according to the nature of the faculty 
acting. 

New born children cry and suck, etc., but it is 
argued that this is not an act of the understanding, 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 197 

and that it is produced by some internal impulse or 
instinct. 

If there be no positive understanding or reflection in 
tbese cases it is certainly very evident that children 
both cry and suck from certain motives. When they 
cry they must have experienced something unpleasant 
or painful, through one or more of the senses, etc., 
and when they suck the organ of alimentiveness is 
active, and has been excited either by the sight, the 
smell, or some gastric necessity stimulating the organ, 
and therefore cannot be instinctive, or an effect with- 
out a cause in either case. 

Animals do not act from instinct any more than 
men. They possess some faculties common to man. 
Man has the advantage of numbers, and kinds, but 
not always of degree. 



198 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTEE XYI. 

PRESENTIMENT OR FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

'OBEKNOWLEDGE, properly so called, is a 
knowledge of something which has not hap- 
pened, or is yet to come ; and of which no 
person has any previous thought, intimation, 
fear, suspicion, or knowledge of any kind. 
Many cases are related which are said to have been 
of this description ; but I have as yet not been able 
to see an instance sufficiently clear in persons who 
were not in. a perfectly normal condition. The fol- 
lowing case has been detailed as one of this charac- 
ter, in a work on " Pathetism," by La Koy Sunder- 
land. 

" An intelligent gentleman of this city, and one, by 
the way, as little given to belief in dreams as any one 
I ever knew, gave me the following account. Busi- 
ness rendered it necessary for him to visit Albany. 
But for some reasons, to him altogether unaccount- 
able, he felt very much disinclined to go. After 
vascillating for some time, he finally took one of the 
evening boats, and at the usual hour retired in his 
berth. He soon fell asleep and dreamed that he saw 
his wife, pale and scarcely alive from loss of blood. 
She was so near dead that she had become quite cold, 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 199 

and lie built a fire, that by warming tbe body lie 
might bring her to life again. The sight so dis- 
turbed him that it awoke him, but on falling again to 
sleep, he had precisely the same dream again. The 
cause of his wife's having bled to death he did not 
perceive, but it now appeared that she was cold and 
dead from loss of blood. 

" On wakiog in the morning, he found it impossi- 
ble to banish the impression which these dreams had 
made upon his mind ; and soon after reaching Albany 
he received a letter summoning him to return, and 
stating that his wife, within an hour after his depar- 
ture, had met with the accident from which she had 
well nigh flooded to death. 

" On returning, he found that she had, indeed, been 
so near dying that the physician and friends had given 
her up;' supposing that nothing could by any means 
save her life. 

'•When he left her, he had not anticipated any- 
thing of the kind, and is not conscious that such an 
accident ever entered his mind. And I should add 
that this gentleman has no faith in clairvoyance." 

This case I consider to be purely of a clairvoyant 
character, and although the gentleman to whom it 
happened may not believe in such a power, I am per- 
suaded that his information could not have been re- 
ceived in any other manner. 

The gentleman's mind, in the first place, was much 
disturbed, and, although he could assign no reason 
for it, it does not follow that because he felt so, that 



200 ARTIFICIAL SOMN-AMBULISM. 

something of an unpleasant nature must necessarily 
happen. 

Such feelings or presentiments, the cause of which I 
have already explained in a previous chapter, very often 
fiteal over the minds of most persons when they are 
about to leave home, particularly when they are not 
very anxious to go ; because we know that there is a 
possibility that something may happen ; but the func- 
tions of the brain, although we may not be conscious 
of their doing so, are almost always on the alert, and 
reaching out often observe things in the outer world 
that are taking or about to take place, and produce 
presentiments which we may not always be able to 
define. This was no doubt the case with the gentle- 
man in question, and was the cause of his uneasiness, 
and his vision which followed I think can be ex- 
plained or accounted for in the following manner : 

He felt uneasy and disturbed about leaving home, 
consequently his thoughts were upon it. He went to 
bed, fell into a somnambulic condition, and his mind 
naturally wandering home, he saw his wife in New 
York, precisely as she lay, pale and scarcely alive 
from loss of blood. What followed was very natural, 
and his finding his supposed dream true only proves 
that he saw correctly, and any other good clairvoyant 
could have done the same thing for him, had their 
mind or attention been directed to his wife at the 
same time. 

The following, which is also detailed in the same 
work and ascribed to sympathy by the author, was 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 201 

evidently the result ofaccident, or at most the effect 
of premonition or presentiment. 

"Judge Stelling, in his almanac of 1808, relates a 
remarkable presentiment of a minister, who was taking 
a walk with the intention of visiting a rocky moun- 
tain near his house, and of enjoying the beautiful 
view from it. While approaching the summit of the 
mountain he felt restless and uneasy ; unable to ex- 
plain this feeling, he asked himself whether it was 
right for him to spend his time thus idly ; and busied 
in such thoughts he stepped aside for a moment to 
seek a cool place under a wall formed by the rock. 
He had scarcely left the narrow path leading to the 
top of the mountain, when a large stone, breaking 
loose from the rest of the rock, with great vehemence 
struck the spot where, one moment before, he was 
standing." 

Many similar instances of presentiment have been 
related by various authors, but they can all be ac- 
counted for upon reasonable principles. Many more 
could be stated where nothing has happened after 
similar feelings have been experienced. In these 
cases the functions of the imagination in the faculties 
reaching out and acting, have created ideas which 
produce the feelings experienced, and are as real 
where nothing happens as where something does take 
place, a knowledge of which was before obtained b^ 
the reaching out of certain functions, independent ol 
the subject's consciousness. 



202 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTER XYII. 

I. — OF INTERIOR PREVISION. 

HIS is considered a species of fore-knowledge, 
and the following description of it by Dr. 
Teste will give the reader an idea of what is 
meant by the term. 
"Lucid somnambulists have not only the 
consciousness of their present philosophical or patho- 
logical state, but they can even announce by a sort of 
fore-knowledge which belongs only to them, all the 
modifications destined to occur in their system. It is 
a calculation on their part, a process of deduction, by 
means of which they determine from that which exists 
that which does not yet exist. 

" This is what no one can tell ; but what is quite 
certain is, that the instances of interior prevision, that 
is, of prevision bearing on occurrences and events re- 
lating to the individual himself, are exceedingly nu- 
merous. Every author on the subject cites several 
of them, 

"Heter Cazot, a somnambulist mentioned in the 
Report of 1832, predicted several weeks beforehand 
the day and hour when he will be attacked with a fit 
of epilepsy. He not only determines the instant 
when the fit is to come on, but also its violence and 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 203 

daration. The commission wliich verifies the fact 
vouches for its authenticity. 

"Paul Yillegrand, who is also mentioned in M. 
Husson's work, predicted a long time beforehand all 
the phases of his disease, and everything occurred 
precisely as he predicted." 

There is no doubt that these things have been done, 
but I differ materially in my opinion as to the cause. 
It is well known to me, that when a resolution is 
taken, a belief cherished, or a determination formed 
by persons while in this state, that, when they 
awake, although they may know nothing about it 
or relative to it, they always do what has been so 
resolved or determined upon at the time appointed 
or specified. 

I have had a lady, who, for the last ten years, had 
not tasted coffee, and who always disliked anything 
sweet, to ask for a cup of sweetened coffee at a cer- 
tain time, although she could not at the time tell the 
reason why she did a thing so contrary to her habits. 
Ten days before, she had agreed, while asleep, to try 
whether an experiment of the kind could be effected 
in her case without her knowing anything about it 
while awake ; and when the time came, she declared 
that she felt almost an irresistible propensity to drink 
a cup of sweetened coffee, and did so, with a perfect 
relish. This lady could create or relieve pain in 
any part of her body, or even forget her own name 
when she awoke, if she made the resolution to do so 
while in this state. 



«& 



204 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

I could relate many other cases of the kind were 
it necessary ; and I have stated the above to show 
that it is possible for things of the kind to take place 
independent of the subject's knowledge when awake, 
although they may have doubted the fact before they 
tested it themselves. 

This is precisely the case with those who predict 
or say that certain things shall come to pass, or take 
place at a certain time ; and is the reason why all 
predictions relating to themselves are always verified. 

It is, therefore, highly important, in all cases, not to 
let them determine upon such events, unless they are of 
such a nature as to he beneficial to them in their waking 
moments. Too much stress cannot be laid upon this 
important point, nor too much caution given to those 
who entrust themselves into incompetent hands, as 
improper and highly injurious consequences may fol- 
low for life if such persons do not understand the true 
nature of the various phenomena which are peculiar 
to this state. 

This strange power, or faculty, is one of the most 
important, however, in the catalogue of phenomena 
belonging to this state ; and I have taken advantage 
of it, as I have before stated, for the purpose of curing 
diseases, removing unpleasant habits, or unfortunate 
affections, etc., and of which I shall speak more fully 
when I treat of these subjects. 

II. — OF EXTERIOR PREVISION. 

External prevision is said, by Dr. Teste, to be the 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 205 

"incompreliensible faculty of predicting during their 
somnambulism events with which their existence will 
be mixed up, but the cause of which is evidently 
foreign to their system, or one to which their system 
bears no relation, and cannot have any species of 
connection with it that can be at all explained." 

Many cases of this kind of prevision are said to 
have taken place. That of Madame Hortense, related 
in Dr. Teste's " Practical Manual," I here give a con- 
densed account : 

Madame Hortense, it appears, had been in a state 
of Artificial Somnambulism frequently before the 
present sitting, in which she predicted, among other 
things, that she should take a fright at something on a 
certain day, which she mentioned, the result of which 
would be difall and a miscarriage. Dr. Teste endeavored, 
by questioning her, to ascertain where and at what she 
was to become frightened ; but she could tell nothing 
about it, and insisted that nothing could prevent it. 
To his question — " Do you know precisely what you 
are to suffer ?" She replied, " Certainly ; and I am 
now going to tell you. Tuesday, at half-past three, 
immediately after having had a fright, I shall have a 
weakness come over me, which will last eight min- 
utes ; after this, I shall be seized with very violent 
pains in the kidneys, which will last the remainder 
of the day, and will continue for the entire night. 
On Wednesday morning I shall commence to lose 
blood ; this loss of blood will increase rapidly, and 
become very profuse ; however, there will be no oc- 



206 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

casion to be alarmed at all this, for it will not com- 
promise my life. Thursday morning I shall be much, 
better ; I shall even be able to leave ray bed for al- 
most the entire day ; but in the evening, at half-past 
'G.ve, I shall suffer another attack of hemorrhage, 
which will be followed by delirium. The nights, 
Thursday and Friday, will be favorable ones; but 
Friday night I shall lose my reason." Her husband, 
who was present, very much moved at what she had 
stated, asked her whether she would be long delir- 
ious? She replied, "Three days;" and added: '^Be 
not alarmed, Alfred, I shall neither remain bereft of 
reason, nor shall I die ; I shall suffer, that is all." 

She was aroused, and remembered nothing that she 
had predicted or had passed in her sleep. 

The fatal day arrived, and Madame Hortense was 
persuaded to enter the sleep again, and again pre- 
dicted that ''Between three and four o'clock I shall take 
a fright at something ; I shall have a fall; the result 
will he an abundant hemorrhage.^'' To all the doctor's 
questions respecting the cause and where it was to 
be, etc., he could obtain no satisfaction. 

She was awakened, and again knew nothing of 
what had transpired. She was watched through the 
whole day by her husband and Doctor Teste. Every 
precaution was taken by them to prevent her being 
frightened. She noticed these unusual attentions, 
and, of course, wondered at them ; but they evaded 
her questions as to the cause, and told her nothing 
about her predictions. She eventually requested 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 207 

that they would permit her to withdraw, and she did 
so in company with her husband. 

They had left the room but a moment when the 
doctor heard a piercing shriek and the noise of a 
body which had fallen. The following is the doctor's 
account of what had happened : " I ran up ; at the 
entrance of the water-closet Monsieur * * ^ holds 
his wife, with all the appearance of dying, in his 
arms. It is she, then, that cried out, and the noise 
heard was occasioned by her fall. The moment she 
let go her husband's arm to enter the water-closet, a 
rat, of which she had an incredible horror, in a place 
where one had not been seen for twenty years before, 
presented itself to her view, and gave her so great 
and so sudden a fright that she fell back, without 
there being a possibility of sustaining her." 

All the rest is said to have taken place precisely 
as she had predicted. 

The above, at first sight, appears inexplicable ; but 
when we examine the facts collectively, and reflect 
that it would have been as easy for her to have told 
that the rat was to produce her fright (granting that she 
had this power at all) as it was for her to tell or pre- 
dict that she was to have a fright at a certain time, 
and that it was to produce the train of consequences 
which she so minutely described, and her not being able 
to predict this, nor the place where it was to happen, 
etc., proves to my mind that persons in this state 
predict most correctly, when what they foretell relates 
to themselves. 



208 ' ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

This, then, is nothing more than that which was 
described as being interior prevision ; and the same 
explanation which was given of that is applicable to 
this also ; and if the rat had not frightened her by 
the merest chance in the world, something else 
would ; for frightened she would ha,ve been at the 
predicted time, if nothing more frightful had pre- 
sented itself than her own shadow. What followed 
was upon the principle, that the prediction is the 
cause of the effect ; and if she had not been suffered 
to predict, or had previously been made acquainted 
with the true nature of the sleep, and her absolute 
powers therein, that the above predictions never 
would have been made, and, consequently, what fol- 
lowed never would have taken place. 

It therefore shows the extreme folly, if not crim- 
inality, of encouraging or permitting subjects to pre- 
dict or make resolutions which may be inimical, 
disastrous, or contrary to their well-being, whether 
they are asleep or awake. 

III. — PROPHETIC DREAMS. 

Prophetic dreams are referable to the same cause, 
viz. : Somnambulism, and can all be explained upon 
the principle of clairvoyance. 

lY. — WITCHCRAFT. 

"Witchcraft has nothing to do with Somnambulism, 
and is only an effect produced upon the minds of 
those who have been made to believe that certain 
persons were endowed with certain powers. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 209 

If persons ignorant of these facts are made to be- 
lieve tliat a certain person, styled a witch or a wizard, 
has power to produce certain effects, such effects will, 
sooner or later, follow that belief; not because such 
a person has such powers, but because the subjects 
believe that they have. The maladies produced in 
such cases assume various shapes, and are referable 
to the impressions originally received, or the super- 
stition and whims of the subjects themselves. For a 
case in point, see page 186 of this work, viz. : on 
Witchcraft and Somnambulism, as published in the 
Daily Enquirer of Cincinnati, May 15th, 1869, under 
the head of " Trance." 



210 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTER XYIII. 

SYMPATHY. 

OTWITHSTANDING all that lias been said 



in favor of sympathy, and all the arguments 
used and cases quoted to prove that such a 
thing exists between bodies entirely distinct 
from each other, and, independent of direct 
communication of any kind, or that it is the means 
through or by which all the phenomena are exhibited 
in cases where one part of the body or different 
bodies, etc., not originally affected, shall be affected 
by another originally so, I cannot subscribe to. 

The phenomena ascribed to it are exceedingly 
numerous ; and it has almost become, like electricity, 
the cause of everything that cannot be explained by 
an imperfect philosophy. 

That there is a correspondence, or a reciprocal 
adaptation of one part of the body to another, and 
of the whole body to the mind, is clear to my rea- 
son, and the effects which one produces upon the 
other is often remarkable ; but I deny that they are 
effected through sympathy, or anything like what is 
understood by that term. 

In a well-disposed person we see a remarkable 
coincidence in the shape of the head, the qualities 



ARTIFICIAL SOMIS^AMBULISM. 211 

of tbe mind, and the expression of the countenance, 
etc., but is this concurrence the effect of sympathy? 
Who would be willing to subscribe to such a doc- 
trine ? Is it not more rational to ascribe the appear- 
ance of the face to the positive qualities of the mind 
producing the effect directly through the nervous 
system, without a reference to anything else, or seek- 
ing for something which of necessity must render the 
philosophy of the matter less clear ? 

If we titillate tbe fauces, vomiting will ensue ; or, 
if we see food, the salivary glands will be excited. 
Disgust, swinging, sailing, or a blow upon the head 
sometimes produce vomiting. Diseases of the thigh 
or hip-joint are sometimes felt in the knee ; those of 
the arm, in the elbow ; and those of the liver, in the 
right shoulder, etc. ; but all these facts do not prove 
that they are caused by sympathy, and not by a di- 
rect communication, first with the brain, and then to 
the part directly or indirectly affected. 

We might as well ascribe the vibration of chords 
to the same thing, (sympathy,) or say that, when a 
finger is pricked, the brain receives the impression 
by sympathy. 

When the fauces are titillated, the nervous system 
conveys the feeling to the brain, and the mind, through 
the same system, affects the stomach, and produces 
vomiting. 

When we see food, an impression is conveyed to 

the mind through or by the faculty of seeing, and the 

mind, exciting the glands through the nervous sys- 
12 



212 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

tern, produces a flow of saliva, etc. Disgust, swing- 
ing, sailing, or a blow upon the head produce vomit- 
ing because the brain, or a certain portion of it, has 
been disagreeably affected, and the impression has 
been conveyed to the stomach by direct communica- 
tion through the nervous system. 

Several cases are recorded where similar affections 
are said to have taken place at the same time, in 
twins, who were at a distance from each other when 
such affections were simultaneous. 

I quote the following as a supposed case of double 
sympathy, which was communicated to the Royal 
Academy of Medicine, by M. Cagentre, in 1824 : 

" Twin brothers were affected precisely alike for a 
number of years. Whatever indisposition one suf- 
fered was suffered by the other at the same time. 
Derangement of the alimentary canal, intestinal 
worms, etc., always made their appearance in both at 
one and the same moment, and the symptoms in both 
were of equal intensity. Dr. Kourel carefiilly watched 
them after their return from a fifteen months' stay in 
the country, and verified the observations of the 
nurses. He found that quotidian intermittent fever 
commenced and terminated on the same day in both ; 
both had acute conjunctivitis together, and also colic, 
which lasted in each for twenty-four hours. Two 
molar teeth made their appearance in each at the 
same time. These things took place in 1831. In 
1832 they had different eruptions, but both suffered 
contemporaneously. In the winter they had bronchitis 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 213 

together. In 1833 thej were attacked with measles 
and after these with scarlet fever ; in these diseases 
each twin had symptoms precisely similar to the 
other, and the commencement and termination in 
both were precisely at the same period. In 1834 
they had each ear-ache and intermittent fever together ; 
and also vesicular eruption on the back of the neck. 
But their dispositions were entirely opposite ; one was 
thin and lively, the other robust and indolent." 

In the above case of the twins, I have but to repeat 
what I have so often stated, that the cause of all the 
above affections was produced by the reaching out of 
the faculties of the boys, independent of their knowl- 
edge, and clairvoyantly seeing each other's condition, 
thus producing, upon the principle of seeing disease 
in others, like diseases in themselves. 

All physicians are familiar with the fact that seeing 
even with the natural eye disease in one person often 
produces like affections in others. Convulsions, re- 
ligious "loss of strength," cholera, and even small 
pox, have been produced in others, with no other 
communication than by the sight. 

In this case an impression is conveyed to the brain 
which, being of a disagreeable nature, produces fear 
or a helief that like eiSects will follow, thus causing 
the very disease that they desired to shun. 

When the religious faculties are excited and act in 
unison with the marvellous, the cautious, and the 
imitative faculties, singular affections are often pro- 
duced, of which the following account by Dr. F. 
Kobinson, of Tennessee, is a remarkable instance. 



214: ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

" The cliurclies," says the Doctor, " iu these States 
at that period were small and uncomfortable, and the 
people from necessity assembled in the open field at 
extraordinary meetings. These meetings lasted from 
three to five days. They remained upon the spot 
day and night, and worshipped their Maker inces- 
santly. The outward expression of their worship 
consisted chiefly in alternate crying, laughing, singing, 
and shouting ; and at the same time performing the 
greatest variety of gesticulation which the muscular 
system is capable of producing. It was under these 
circumstances that some of them found themselves 
unable, by voluntary efforts, to suppress the contrac- 
tion of their muscles ; and, to their own astonishment, 
and the diversion of many of the spectators, they con- 
tinued to act from necessity the curious character 
which they had commenced from choice. 

" The disease no sooner appeared than it spread 
with rapidity through the medium of imitation. 

'' Thus it was not uncommon for an affected person 
to communicate it to a greater part of a crowd, who 
from curiosity, or other motives, had collected around 
him. 

" The contractions are sudden and violent, such as 
are denominated convulsions ; being sometimes so 
powerful when in the muscles of the back, that the 
patient is thrown on the ground, where for some 
time his motions more resemble those of a live fish, 
when thrown on land, than anything else to which 
I can compare them. During the intermission a 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 215 

paroxysm is often excited at the sight of a person 
affected, but more frequently by the common salute 
of shakiDg hands. 

" The sensations of the patient in a paroxysm are 
generally agreeable, which the enthusiastic class often 
endeavor to express by laughing, shouting, dancing, 
etc. Fatigue is almost always complained of after 
violent paroxysms, and sometimes a general soreness 
is experienced. It has not proved mortal in a single 
instance within my knowledge, but becomes lighter 
by degrees, and finally disappears." 

The " Jerks," the " Eolling exercise," the " Barks," 
etc., are of the same character, and are produced by 
the same cause. 

I. CLAIRVOYANCE. 

"When any of the senses are in the somnambulic 
condition, they become what I call, for want of a bet- 
ter term, clearminded. Clairvoyance relates to the 
eye only, and is internal perception, or perception without 
the aid of the external eye. From what has already 
been said in this work respecting clairvoyance, the 
reader must, in a great measure, be acquainted with 
my views, but it is still necessary to give some illus- 
trations in detail, and other explanations connected 
with this subject. 

With this view I give the following letter which T 
sent to the editor of the " Magnet," and published in 
vol. II., ISTo. 1, of that work, for June, 1843. I now 
give the terms as orignally sent. They were altered 



216 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

to suit the views of tlie editor, which. I cannot sub- 
scribe to. The letter is as follows : 

" Dear Sir : — I have been engaged in attending to 
persons while in a state of Artificial Somnambulism, 
principally for the cure of diseases ; yet, whenever I 
have found the sight of such persons to be clairvoyant, 
I have made it a point during the time necessary for 
them to remain in it, to study this remarkable phe- 
nomenon; and it has always given me pleasure, on 
similar occasions, to exhibit its peculiarities to others 
who were desirous of witnessing it. 

" My audiences have, with few exceptions, been of 
a private nature, and were composed generally of the 
most obdurate and inveterate skeptics, requiring me 
to make many and often repeated experiments, 
with such care and circumspection as their unbelief 
warranted. 

"In this manner and by other experiments which I 
prosecuted with, if possible, still greater caution, I 
have been able to gather a sufficient number of facts 
to overwhelm and convince me that their ability to 
discern without the aid of their eyes is, indeed, true 
beyond the possibility of a doubt. I have been ex- 
tremely guarded in my own experiments, so much so, 
that I would not permit any one to enter the room 
after having had them to place various articles in 
boxes — of which I had no knowledge whatever ; yet, 
after taking each box into my hand promiscuously, 
and having successively asked questions as to their 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 217 

contents, to my astonistiment, I found tlie answers 
correct, notwithstanding some of the articles were of 
such a nature as to make guessing correctly out of 
question. One of the boxes contained a piece of 

cabbage leaf, 'broken off and not cut,' as Mr. C. S , 

the subject, most accurately described it, together 
with its shape, size, color, uses, and his own dislike 
to its taste, when prepared for the table. 

" When a sense is in the sleeping condition of Arti- 
ficial Somnambulism it is in a perfect state of rest, 
and lays dormant until it is aroused by the person in 
whose care they are, or by an effort of their own will 
which is, at all times, independent of the so-called 
operator. He may request them to look or to hear, 
but they can comply or not as they please ; and when 
their - inclination to hear, etc., ceases, such senses 
relapse into their former inactivity, and are then, so 
long as it is their will they shall remain so, addressed 
by others in vain. 

" I have also made many experiments lately, to 
test their powers of hearing at a distance, which I 
have found as extraordinary as their clairvoyance, 
and as astounding as it is true. 

"The phenomena of clairvoyance seems to create 
more doubt in the mind of skeptics than any other 
peculiarity which is exhibited by subjects in this 
state; yet it is, by no means, more extraordinary 
than that they can, whenever they please, know the 
will of the operator, experience no pain while under 
the severest surgical operation, nor hear any noise 



218 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

unless directed to it by him, or is a special desire of 
their own. 

"Many admit the truth of the sleep and all the 
other phenomena, bat cannot believe that they see 
without the aid of their eyes. This, they say, is un- 
natural, and contrary to all their preconceived notions, 
and, therefore, cannot exist, thus building up a stand- 
point at whose shrine they would constrain truth to 
worship. 

" There seems to be a morbid propensity in some 
persons to doubt and to proclaim everything false 
which they cannot understand, or w^hich does not 
accord with their peculiar views, as if, without any 
investigation, they had imbibed with their mother's 
milk universal knowledge, and despised all that did 
not originate with themselves. 

"But I have lately seen many such men bow to 
the force of truth in spite of their philosopliyf and 
would advise others of a similar character, first to 
assure themselves that they have examined the sub- 
ject thoroughly, and under such circumstances as to 
leave no doubt upon their minds before they arrive 
at conclusions which may be unjust. 

" The reign of theory is past, and unless they can 
produce facts to substantiate their views they will 
find that their opinions weigh but little when opposed 
to truth. If they have not experimented personally, 
honestly, and with a desire for the truth, they are 
not and cannot be capable of judging. 

**Some, indeed, of the above stamp have, after a 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 219 

brief and unfair examination, left such exhibitions 
wilfully dissatisfied, and seemed to glorj in their 
ability to evade the truth, verifjdng the saying that : 
* There are none so blind as those who will not see.' 
But it is a matter of no importance to the science, or 
to the world at large, whether such men believe or 
not, as their opinions — no matter what their stations 
in society may be — will not alter the facts, nor change 
the nature of that which really exists. 

" Facts, stubborn and incontrovertible facts, have 
settled this question in my mind, and it is with such 
arguments only, that I have constrained others to 
believe that the sense of seeing when in this state, 
enables the subject to discern, not only articles held 
in the closed hands of others, but objects and scenes 
at a distance. 

" Darkness, matter, and space, seem to offer no ob- 
struction to their view, and I have had them, times 
without number, correctly to describe and name arti- 
cles held in the closed hands of others, of which I had 
no knowledge whatever. 

" In the same manner they have described pictures, 
etc., held behind them, and named persons outside 
of the house, although their presence was not expected, 
and they arrived after the subject had been in this 
state for some hours. They have told the contents 
of closed boxes at a distance, which they never saw, 
and named the amount of money, and kind of coin in 
pocket-books and purses which were held in the 
hands of inveterate skeptics. 



220 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

"They have found persons at a distant city, with 
whom they were acquainted, without ever having 
been there themselves, and told accurately — neither 
more nor less — what they had been doing at a certain 
time and place. 

"They have described places and scenes at a distance, 
where they had never been, to the perfect satisfaction 
of hundreds of skeptics who, at different periods, re- 
quested them to go with them in thought ; yet, not- 
withstanding all these facts, some still hold out and 
battle in the dark. 

" Clairvoyance must be seen to be believed, and I 
do not censure those who disbelieve it, that have 
not had an opportunity of witnessing it in its 
purity ; but I do those who, when present on an oc- 
casion of the kind, arrogantly assume the umpire and 
question the integrity of every one, at the same time 
that they, themselves, use all the unfair means and 
trickery in their power to thwart the experiments. 

" In conclusion, I will state, for the benefit of those 
who are anxious to try experiments successfully, that 
it is necessary to put all questions distinctly, and to 
await their answers patiently, as hurrying them from 
one thing to another distresses them, and frequently 
makes them unwilling to answer at all. When I wish 
to direct their minds to anything, I usually do so by 
telling them where it is placed or held, and then ask 
them whether they see it ? If they answer in the 
affirmative, I then request them to name or describe 
it. This is not always necessary, particularly after 



ARTIFICIAL SOMN^A^^IBilLISM. 221 

the first sitting. The articles, etc., to be describee!, 
ought not to be known by the operator before the 
experiment, nor should there be a word said in the 
room by any person, respecting them, either to 
instruct or mislead, as I have, often known such inter- 
ference to thwart experiments which, otherwise, 
would have been satisfactory." 

The views in the above letter, which were published 
twenty-six years ago, I still hold to be true, and 
many similar facts have been added to the list, all of 
which confirm the knowledge previously obtained. 
But, as I have before stated, it must be remembered 
that I do not place implicit confidence in the clair- 
voyance of all subjects, particularly when they imag- 
ine or are unwilling to look, knowing that they can 
see what they imagine as well as they can that which 
really exists, if their minds are not carefully directed. 

CLAIRVOYANCE AT A DISTANCE. 

Case 1. 

Subject, Miss . She was requested to ob- 
serve and to state what Mr. K was doing in the 

next room, the door heing closed, and the back of her 

chair toward the room in which Mr. K then 

was. 

Answer. — ''^e is standing in the center of the 
room, and is holding a chair above his head." 

The door was thrown open, and Mr. K stood 

where she said, holding a chair above his head. It 



222 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

will be necessary to state that Mr. K wa& ex- 
tremely skeptical, and was, of course, not satisfied 
with one experiment. Several other skeptics were 
also present, who took great care that everything 
was done to their satisfaction. 

The door was again closed by them, and she was 
again asked what Mr. K. was doing. 

Answe7\ — " He is standing up, and is holding a pil- 
low upon his head." 

The door was again thrown open, and he was found 
to be standing, holding a pillow upon his head. 

The door being again closed, she was once more 
desired to state what Mr. K. was doing. 

Answer. — " He is lying down full length upon the 
floor." 

Her answer was again correct : he was found 
stretched upon the floor when the door opened. 

On another occasion the same subject was requested 
by several other skeptics to tell what Mr. S. was do- 
ing in the next room. 

Answer. — ''He is standing up, and is holding the 
piano-stool upon his right shoulder.^^ 

Her answer was correct ; and in like manner she 
told that he was holding a note hook upon his head; and 
again that he had thrown a shawl about his shoulders, 
and had placed a honnet on his head. 

The same precautions were taken by 4he gentlemen 
to prevent deception that had been used on a former 
occasion. The door was guarded closely, and opened 
by themselves, and the positions which Mr, S. assumed 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 223 

we:re not premeditated by him, but assumed upon the 
instant after the door had been closed. Deception was 
therefore out of the question. 

Case 2. 

Subject, Mrs. D. She had been afflicted with dys- 
pepsia and nervous headache for several years, and 
had entered the state twice before under my care, and 
on the present occasion was at a neighbor's house, 
about half a mile from her home. She came over in 
the afternoon for the purpose of entering the state, 
and was to remain there while I tarried in the neigh- 
borhood. In the evening, after having performed 
various experiments in clairvoyance, her husband 
came over to see us, and as he had no faith in her 
ability to "see with her eyes shut!'' ^e requested that if 
she was able she should look home and see whether 
everything in a certain room was as she had left it. 

After she had looked, she remarked that he must 
have given himself a great deal of trouble to strip the 
children's bed, and to disarrange the furniture. Not 
satisfied with this, he requested her to say what he 
had placed upon a certain dresser. She at first seemed 
very unwilling to look, but at last did so, and imme- 
diately said that she knew what it was, and desired to 
know what possessed him to place the small chest up 
til ere. Her husband then stated that before he left 
home, he had stripped the children's bed and disar- 
ranged the furniture in the room, and placed the small 
chest upon the dresser. 



224 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

Case 3. 

Subject, Miss H . This young lady- had been 

afflicted with epileptic convulsions from her childhood, 
and was now on a visit to Lancaster for the purpose 
of trying what effect Somnambulism would have upon 
her disease. She had been in the condition several 
times, and since her first sitting has had no return of 
her fits. Upon this occasion, after entering the state, 
she was requested to throw her mind home — about 
four miles distant — and see what was going on there. 
After stating many things respecting the family, she 
said that they were hitching up the horse into the 
small wagon^ and that her mother was getting ready 
to visit Lancaster, but wondered why they did not 
take the buggy ; and after a pause said, '"' They are 
now getting into the wagon, and are coming towards 
Lancaster." In about an hour afterwards her mind 
was again directed to them, and she said they were 
almost in the city. In about ten minutes after, the 
vehicle was driven up to the door and her mother 
entered the room. This visit from her mother was 
not expected, and the roads being heavy, the small 
wagon was employed instead of the buggy, which was 
usually made use of for that purpose. This young 
lady has never had an attack of epilepsy since, was 
married some years ago, and is raising a fine family. 

Case 4. •*" 

The following was sent to the editor of the "Mag- 
net,^'' and published in that periodical in November, 
1843 • 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 225 

Subject, Mrs. H , of most exemplary character, 

who has, been laboring under a nervous afifection of 
the eyes and lower extremities, rendering her perfectly 
hlind and lame for two years, and who has been en- 
tirely restored by entering this state. 

She was requested while in this condition to tell 
what a certain gentleman had in his yard attached 
to his house, at a distance of several miles. When 
asked whether she would look at it, she replied that 
she did not care about going there, but would look ; 
and upon doing so, asked me what kind of an animal 
it was. 

I told ber I did not know what the gentleman had 
there, as he was very careful not to tell me. " Well," 
said she, " I have seen one like it in the museum, but 
I never saw a live one. It is a raccoon. He is fastened 
to the oven, and is now lying in a box near it asleep." 

This was acknowledged by the gentleman to be 
the fact. He had placed it there that evening^ and 
came over immediately afterwards, expressly to test 
her powers. 

Some time previous, the same lady was requested 
by a skeptic to visit a gentleman's apiary at a dis- 
tance, and to tell the number of hives and the condi- 
tion of the bees, which he represented to be flourish- 
ing. When asked, she remarked that be had about 
twenty hives, but that the bees were all dead. This 
seemed strange to me, and I asked her whether she 
was sure that they were all dead. She said, " Yes, 
you will see, they are all dead." The gentleman then 



226 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

stated that such was the truth, and that the fact had 
not been known to any one but himself. 

On another occasion she was requested by a neigh- 
bor to visit his house, and to state where his wife 
was, and what she was doing. After stating several 
things respecting her, to his satisfaction, she asked 
me, when Mr. B 's tree had blown down. 

I asked Mr. B whether that was the fact, but, 

instead of answering, requested me to ask her whether 
it was all blown ? She said, " No, about the half of 
it, and it is lying there still." 

Such was the fact ; half of the tree — a very large 
willow which stood before the door — was prostrated 
by the storm in the night, and next morning early 
the fact was stated to the owner, unasked, and inde- 
pendent of any communication between the houses. 
His intended visit was unexpected to us, and the 
distance between the houses is about four miles. 

When questioned as to the reason why she noticed 
tlie tree, she remarked, that when she came to the 
front door, she found she could not enter the house 
without climbing over the fallen tree, and found it 
necessary to pass around the house to enter the 
kitchen. 

Case 5. 

Subject, Miss Z . Of her own accord entered 

the condition, for the purpose of visiting an aunt, who 
lived about fourteen miles distant, and after she had 
cast her mind to the place, she seemed to be delighted, 
and when asked why she was so much pleased, she 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 227 

Stated that her aunt and her two cousins were 
making preparations to visit Lancaster. 

About two hours after, her sister, with the view of 
teasing her, remarked : " Ah, Miss, you must have 
been mistaken about aunt's coming to-day. The cars 
have arrived, and she has not yet come, although 
time enough has elapsed for the omnibus to have 
been here long ago." 

" Ah, indeed !" replied Miss Z . " It is you that 

are mistaken. They are not coming in the cars. 
They are in their own carriage, and will be here 
directly." Soon after the carriage was driven to the 
door, and her aunt and two cousins stepped into the 
room. 

This visit was entirely unexpected by the family, 
and when she stated the fact, their coming was 
doubted, and they could not realize it until the car- 
riage was at the door. 

Case 6. 

It was agreed, between a gentleman and myself, to 
test clairvoyance at a distance of sixty miles, and 
when in Philadelphia, he was to visit a certain house 
known to me, and there to do certain things which he 
was to determine upon and note. I, being in Lancas- 
ter, was to have one of my subjects, who had never 
been in Philadelphia, to say what he was doing there, 
at a certain time. 

He departed from the city in the morning train, 

and in the evening of the same day, MissZ en- 

13 



228 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

tered this state the twelfth time, and when taken in 
thought to the appointed place, she dechared that he 
was not there ; that the house was closed, and not 
occupied. 

This seemed strange, as it was the time we had set, 
and I could not think that he had forgotten his en- 
gagement, nor could I tell why the house should be 
closed. Under these circumstances, I was at a loss 
to know what I should do, and although I had the 
utmost confidence in her powers, having sufficiently 
tested them before, I was not yet prepared to believe 
that she could find him in a city where she had 
never been herself. But as I could lose nothing but 
the time spent in the experiment, I desired her to see 
whether she could find him. After three or four 
minutes had elapsed, she said that she had found 
him, and that he was in the third story of a house, in 
a room alone, containing one bed, several chairs, a 
bureau, and a wash-stand, etc., and that he was stand- 
ing up at a covered bureau, with a parcel of papers 
spread before him, and that he was figuring with his 
pencil. After a few minutes, she remarked that " he 
is now gathering up his papers; now he is going 
down stairs ; now into the street ; and down the 
street ; he is now about to enter a laro^e buildinnr ; he 

is speaking to some one at the door ; it is Mr. L •. 

I know him ; he is now inside. This must be the 

theatre," and, as if speaking to Mr. , she said : 

" Take a seat, Mr. ." 

She then described the house, and said it was 
crowded. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 229 

The following is Mr. 's account^ wbich I re- 
ceived just after he had stepped out of the cars, where 
I had gone to meet him, upon his return to Lancaster. 

*'I arrived in the city of Philadelphia about the 
usual hour, and while down street that afternoon, 
attendinsj to some business, I ascertained that the 
house I intended visiting in the evening, for the pur- 
pose of performing my part in the experiment, was 
closed. I, therefore, of course, could not go there, 
but went to my boarding-house, and as I thought, 
that I had lost ten dollars in one of my transactions 
that afternoon, I retired to my room, in the third 
story of the house, for the purpose of finding where 
the mistake lay, and at the time appointed for the ex- 
periment, I was standing at a covered bureau, with 
my papers spread out before me, and figuring with 
my pencil to find out the error. 

" Finding all correct, however, I concluded to go 
to the theatre, and gathering up my papers, I went 

there, met and spoke to Mr. L at the door, and 

then entered the theatre, which I found very 
crowded. 

" My chamber contained but one bed, a bureau, a 
wash-stand, and two or three chairs." 

Case 7. 

Mr. , a gentleman who had frequently witnessed 

the powers of clairvoyants in seeing things, etc., both 
in and about the house, became desirous of enterinsr 
the state himself, for the purpose of testing the 



230 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

power of seeing things at a distance. As he visited 
the citj of Baltimore frequently, he requested cer- 
tain acquaintances there, who were skeptical, to place 
something at a particular locality in a certain house, 
after he had left the city, for the purpose of testing 
his powers of vision, should he succeed in entering 
the state when he returned to Lancaster. 

This was complied with by his friends several 
times, but as he could not succeed in entering the 
state perfectly, after the third trial, he requested a 
lady, who was accidentally present, and had been in 
this state repeatedly, to enter the state and to look at 
it for him, so that he could convince his friends in 
Baltimore that it could be done. 

Subject, Mrs. E . She had never been in Balti- 
more in her life, and after she had entered the state, 
it was necessary — as I was not acquainted with the 
location of the house — for him to convey her in 
thought to the appointed place. Having done so, T 
requested her to describe the room, which she did to 
his satisfaction, and as the thing to be looked at was 
to be at or about the time-piece, I directed her 
attention to it, and desired her to look whether there 
was anything about the clock which did not belong 
to it. She said she saw something dark there, which 
looked like a bottle, but that she felt as if she were 
going backwards, and could not keep herself there 
long enough to see it distinctly. This being the case, 
and findinp^ that her mind was wandering: about the 

o o 

city I directed her to look about the city, and after 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 231 

I bad taken her to the Washington Monument and 
various other places of interest, I desired her to go 
back to the clock again, and to go up to it, and to 
take the article which she before described as being 
a dark bottle, into her hands, and to examine it 
minutely, so that she could be certain as to what it 
really was. After having done so, she declared that 
she now saw it distinctly, and stated that "it was a 
dark hottle^ about the length of her index finger, and was 
suspended by a white string, tied about its neck, that it 
was empty, and had no corJc.'^ 

The gentjeman left Lancaster for Baltimore the 
next day, and when he returned he stated that, as he 
approached the house of his friend, in Baltimore, 
where the thing to be looked at was to be placed, he 
saw his friend at the door, and, as he came up to 
him, his friend immediately asked him to tell what 
he had seen placed near the clock. After he had 
related the circumstances and told what the lady said, 
his friend produced the bottle, which had been sus- 
pended at the time agreed upon, and which, to their 
mutual astonishment, they now saw she had described 
to the very letter. The gentleman brought the bottle 
with him to Lancaster, with a piece of the white 
string still attached, and after it was shown to Mrs. 

E , she declared that it was the very same which 

she had seen suspended in Baltimore. 

The bottle is of a very dark brown color, and looks 
nearly black when not held up between the light and 
the eye, of a peculiar shape, and not easily mistaken. 



232 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

It is about tlie lengtli of an index finger, and was 
empty, and without a cork or stopper. 

A purer case of actual clairvoyance could not be 
desired, because there was no person in the room 
that knew or had any suspicion of what might be 
placed there. It was to be placed there for a certain 
time and then removed. We were all ignorant of the 
fact, and could not tell or say whether there was any- 
thing there or not ; and it was not known to any of 
us, whether she had seen correctly until the gentle- 
man returned with the bottle, which she delared was 
the identical one which she saw there suspended, 
although she had never been in the city herself, and 
neither of us had any knowledge of the locality of 
the house, etc., but the gentleman who desired the 
experiment, and the article was not placed there until 
he was in Lancaster. 

I could relate many other cases of clairvoyance at 
various distances were it necessary ; but if what I 
have already related be not credited, more will not. 

Some persons, who have had no practical experi- 
ence, and profess to be skeptical, have intimated that 
I have been deceived, and that what I accept as facts 
are the results of my imagination. I ask for the 
proof! Let them state in what instance I have been 
deceived, or contradict what I have stated in regard 
to any of the phenomena which I consider to be truths. 
If they cannot do this their assertions are unjust, and 
the weakness ascribed to me must fall back upon 
themselves. But I have not been deceived, and am 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 233 

confident tliat if the most skeptical person had ob- 
served the proofs that I have witnessed they would 
also be satisfied of the facts, althouo-h they mig^ht not 
be able to explain the why or the wherefore. Let 
them, therefore, not say what they are not prepared 
to prove. What I have said I have proved, and can 
do so again. 

Much has been said, by various authors, about the 
powers of clairvoyants in knowing or seeing what 
has passed or is yet to come. I have already given 
my views upon these points, and will here but re- 
mark, that when a circumstance is once passed, it is 
lost to them forever. It is true, they may get such 
knowledge from others who were present at the time 
or knew about it. or they may speak of what has 
passed from a previous knowledge of their own, but 
they cannot see it in any case independent of the 
imagination, any more than they can unerringly 
foresee that which is to come. 

The following case is quoted from the ''Magnet,^'' 
March number, ISM, and is supposed, by some, to 
be an instance of seeing the past : 

"Some time during the month of January last, 

Mrs. , of the village of A. A., in the State of 

Michigan, missed from her parlor table a beautiful 
little gold watch. It was taken one evening, while 
no member of the family was in the room. The whole 
affair was enveloped in mystery. Suspicion rested on 
no one in particular, in the mind of Mrs. S. or her 
husband. Careful search and inquiry were made for 



231 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

several weeks, but all to no purpose. The singular 
disappearance of the watch remained an inexplicable 
secret, locked up in the bosom of the unhappy joung 
man who had ventured to commit the deed. A few 
months passed away, and the matter was nearly 
forgotten. 

" In the spring — in the month of April, I believe — 
Mr. D. B., the distinguished scholar in the science 
of Animal Magnetism, visited A. A. for the purpose 
of lecturing and exhibiting facts and experiments in 
proof of the pretensions of Mesmerism. He had with 
him a young man, whose name I do not recollect, but 
who was a stranger in the place. This man was an 
excellent clairvoyant. 

" One day, while in clairvoyance, Mr. S., the hus- 
band of the lady who lost the watch, was placed in 
communication with him. He inquired of the clair- 
voyant, who, for the sake of convenience, I will call 
A. in relation to the disappearance of the watch. 
For a long time, Mr. A. refused to answer the inter- 
rogatories put to him, touching this delicate subject ; 
but at length consented to undertake a full disclo- 
sure. His answers were sufficiently definite and de- 
scriptive to fasten suspicion upon C. C, a young man 
who resided in the place, and who had been in the 
employ of Mr. S., and who had long been a fdtniliar 
visitor at his house. He stated definitely that tlie 
watch was now (then) in the hands of a young man 
in the village of Amsterdam, in the State of New 
York. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 235 

"The credulous, of course, believed that C. C. was 
the guilty man, especially as he was known to have 
visited Amsterdam late in the winter. This disclo- 
sure was made in the presence of but few witnesses 
or spectators. The next day Mr. A., the clairvoyant, 
came to Mr. S., apparently under great excitement, 
and pointed through the window of Mr. S.'s oflftce, to 
a young man in the street, and declared him to be 
the young man whom he saw in clairvoyance the day 
before, and took the watch. The man was C. C, who 
was a perfect stranger to A. Even the credulity of 
Mr. S. was now disturbed. He could not, he would 
not, believe the clairvoyant. C. C. had always main- 
tained an unsullied reputation, and Mr, S. had been 
long and intimately acquainted with him. He was a 
young man much, beloved and respected. 

"This. young man, C. C, early in the month of 
August last, was taken sick with a violent fever. 
After it had raged for a few days with such obstinacy 
as to preclude the possibility of recovery, he was told 
by his faithful physician, that his case was hopeless — 
that he must die ! It was an unwelcome message, 
but he must now be honest, for the scenes of judg- 
ment were at hand. 

" Two days before his eyes were closed in death, 
he sent for the Rev. Mr. C, an Episcopal clergyman, 
with whom he had long been familiarly acquainted. 
To him he made a free, full, and humble confession 
of the whole transaction. He disclosed the secret 
known to none but his God ! It was precisely as the 



236 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

clairvoyant had stated it. He took the watch East 
with him, and sold it to a brother in the village of 
Amsterdam, as had been stated. He exonerated 
everybody else from any participation or privity in 
the affair, and confessed that upon his head alone 
rested the guilt." 

The above is not, strictly speaking, seeing the past, 
as some have been led to suppose. It is nothing more 
than ordinary clairvoyance and mind reading. I 
have seen many similar instances where clairvoyants 
have obtained correct information from a third 
person, whom they never saw. 

This clairvoyant did nothing more. He received 
the image of C. C. from the mind of some one, and 
then, by finding him and reading his mind, obtained 
the information which he eventually divulged. It is a 
question in my mind, from what I have long since 
noticed, whether the past may not also be gathered 
from surrounding objects, even at a distance, by 
clairvoyants who direct their minds to, or visit them 
hi thought, by a translation of their faculties. I 
know that they have and can get correct impressions, 
even by the touch, from inanimate objects that have 
been present, or in the possession of others. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 237 




CHAPTER XIX. 

OF THE SENSE OF HEARING. 

HEN tbe sense of hearing is in this state, the 
subjects usually do not hear or listen to what 
is passing around them, unless directed to it 
by the person into whose care they have 
placed themselves, or there is an express 
desire on their own part to do so, and then they hear 
without any other communication. 

When they are desirous of listening, they can 
translate this faculty to any distance, and hear what 
there transpires as distinctly as if the thing to be 
heard were in the same room. This may at this time 
appear a sweeping assertion, but I can assure the 
reader that it is nevertheless a truth which the world 
sooner or later will have to believe. 

My investigations with this sense have been con- 
ducted with the utmost care, and I am persuaded 
that, if like experiments to the following be repeated 
by others, the results will be as satisfactory to them as 
mine have been to me. I select the following from 
a number of a like nature : 

I. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, a young lady. 

Three persons were requested to retire into a dis- 
tant part of the yard, and to speak of something which 
they should bear in mind. 



238 AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

"When asked what tbey were conversing about, she 
said that they were speaking about the kitchen and the 
piazza, and when requested to state the exact words 
thej were speaking at that moment, she replied that 

Mr. Z just now said that '^it will do very well," 

alluding to the manner of trimming the trees, etc. 

They were requested to come in, and were told 
what she said ; and they declared tliat that was the 
subject of conversation, and those were the exact 
words that had been uttered by Mr. Z. 

The subject was seated in the front room, and both 
doors between her and the kitchen, through which 
they passed, were closed. 

II. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, a lady in the country. 

She was requested to state what they were speak- 
ing about in the next house, the doors of both being 
closed, and the distance between them about one 
hundred yards. 

She said they were speaking about a Mr. M , 

who lived at a distance. Her statement was ascer- 
tained to be correct. 

This experiment was performed at the request of a 
skeptic, on the spur of the moment, without any pre- 
vious arrangement, and therefore puts the possibility 
of collusion out of the question. 

III. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, a young lady. 

She was requested to state what two other ladies 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 289 

were speaking about in the next room, who had re- 
tired for that purpose. They were directed to go to 
the farthest end, and to whisper barely loud enough 
for the one to hear the other. 

"When they returned, they were astonished to find 
that not a word had escaped her. The ladies were 
both skeptical, and before the experiment had been 
tested by them, they had declared that it was impos- 
sible for her to do it. 

IV. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, a lady. 

She was requested to listen to some music at a dis- 
tance of one and half squares. She said that she 
heard it distinctly, named the tunes that were played 
and the kind of instruments upon which they were 
played, etc. This was also performed without any 
previous arrangement. Her statements were found 
to be correct. 

Y. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, a lady. 

She was requested to listen to what a young lady 
was sing^insf who had been sent into the woods for 

o o 

that purpose by a skeptic, with directions to sing cer- 
tain pieces merely loud enough to hear herself, and to 
note which she sang first, etc. 

Answer : " She is singing ' My soul is heaven 
bound, glory hallelujah ;' " and after a pause, of per- 
haps half a minute, she said, '' And now she has com- 
menced the ' Promised Land.' " Answer was correct 
' — she sang but two pieces, and those so low that, to 



240 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

use her own expression, " it was impossible for any 
one to have heard them at a distance of three yards." 
The woods were one-quarter of a mile distant. 

Many individuals who are not clairvoyant often 
hear, and use this faculty at a distance very well. 

I have had many subjects, two in particular, both 
gentlemen, in whom the sense of seeing was not per- 
fectly in this state at the same time that the hearing 
was; and who were both enabled to translate this 
faculty to a distance, and although they could see 
nothing they could hear what was said or going on 
distinctly. 

They have frequently told what was spoken at the 
distance of several miles ; and when taken to a cocoon- 
ery at a distance of four miles, they declared that they 
could hear the worms feeding as distinctly as if their 
ear was within an inch of them. 

Both gentlemen were skeptical, and entered this 
state out of curiosity. They have both lately en- 
tered the state more perfectly, and are now also most 
excellent clairvoyants. One entered it perfectly on 
the tenth, and the other on the twelfth sitting. 

With these and many other subjects I have per- 
formed many like experiments in hearing, at even 
much greater distances, and so far as I have been able 
to ascertain, they have in a great majority of cases 
been perfectly correct. 

If, therefore, when the mind has been properly 
directed, the}^ can hear the exact words spoken or the 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 241 

tunes played or sung at a distance so far exceeding 
the powers of this sense in a natural state, how can 
we limit their abilities ? 

The same remarks, however, which I made when 
upon the subject of clairvoyance, etc., also apply to 
their hearing ; and, if their imagination be properly 
restrained, they can hear things at a distance as well 
as if they were present and listening with their 
natural ear. But if they imagine and are careless 
or indifferent as to the result, their answers cannot 
be depended upon. The same remarks will apply to 
the senses of taste, smell, feeling, etc. It is astonish- 
ing how sensitive the senses are while in this con- 
dition ; and subjects are frequently enabled to select 
from a number of articles, mixed up promiscuously, 
those which belong to each individual, although they 
may never have seen the individuals before. This 
would seem to prove that there was a peculiar im- 
pression, or a something, left upon all substances by 
their surroundings, proximity, or possession, which 
enables subjects to distinguish between articles owned 
by different persons. What this something may be, 
or how subjects discover the difference, they cannot 
find words to make us comprehend, and simply say, 
that, by using all their senses, they either see, 
taste, smell, or feel, etc., their peculiarities, but that 
it is necessary to fix their minds intently upon them ; 
and when the articles are at a distance, the mind 
must be cast there, and then the necessary examina- 
tion made. 



242 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTER XX. 

OF THE SENSES OF SMELL AND TASTE. 

HE senses of smell and taste, while in this state, 
like those of seeing and hearing, commonly 
lie dormant, or inactive, but are at all times 
\p under the control of the subjects' will, and 
they can smell and taste, or not, as they 
please, independent of any one. 

If they do not desire^ to smell, the strongest sub- 
stances held under the nose are inhaled with im- 
punity ; but, if they desire to smell, they can do so 
with the utmost facility and correctness, and can dis- 
tinguish the most delicate scents at a distance, not- 
withstanding the vials, etc., which may contain them 
are closely corked and sealed. 

It does not matter how well they may be secured, 
or where they are placed, so that the subject is cor- 
rectly informed of their locality, and the substances 
to be examined be such as they could name or dis- 
tinguish in their waking moments. The same is the 
case with their taste, etc. 

I have performed many experiments to prove the 
powers of these senses, and of which the following- 
are a few of the most interesting : 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 243 

I. EXPERIMENT. 

S abject, Mrs. H . 

A vial, closely corked, containing some liquid, was 
placed upon the table, about four yards distant from 
where she was seated. She was then requested to 
examine its contents by smelling and tasting it. 

After obtaining her consent, she was left undis- 
turbed for perhaps half a minute. I then asked her 
if she had smelt and tasted it. She said : "Yes; and 
I know what it is. It smells and tastes like cinna- 
mon." 

The vial was examined, and found to contain oil 
of cinnamon. 

11. EXPERIMENT. 

A second vial, closely corked, was placed upon the 

table,- and the same requests made. 

Her answer was, '' It smells like lemon." 

Upon examination, the vial was found to contain 

a few drops of the oil of lemon. 

III. EXPERIMENT. 

A third vial, secured and placed, etc., as the above. 

" This," said she, " smells very strong. It is hartshorn." 
Answer correct. The vial contained spirits of 
hartshorn. 

I have had many other subjects to perform similar 
experiments with the same success ; but it is very 
seldom that any of them can be induced to perform 
more than three or four of the same nature at the 
same sitting. It is therefore best always to vary 
them, to meet their approbation. 
U 



24:4 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

As there is so much sameness in these experiments, 
I shall give but a few more, which were performed 
on a different occasion by the same subject: 

lY. EXPERIMENT. 

A vial, closely corked, containing a colorless liquid, 
was placed upon the table. The usual requests were 
made, and her answer then was, "It smells like cam- 
phor." 

It was examined, and found to contain spirits of 
camphor. 

Y. EXPERIMENT. 

A second vial was placed upon the table, etc. This 
she said she was well acquainted with ; but I had 
considerable difficulty before I could get her to name 
it. She, however, eventually said that it was "essence 
of peppermint." 

Her answer was correct. 

YI. — EXPERIMENT. 

A third vial was placed upon the table, secured 
like the rest. This she examined for a considerable 
time, and at length declared that it had "neither 
taste nor smell." 

The vial contained pure water. 

YII. — EXPERIMENT. 

One of the vials was selected by one of the 
audience and taken to a neighbor's house, about 
one hundred yards distant. When I was told where 
they had placed it, I requested her to cast her mind 
therC; and to smell and taste it at that distance. 



AEJIFIGIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 245 

She stated that the vial contained essence of pepper- 
mint, and that she smelt and tasted it distinctly. 

Her answer was ao^ain correct. 

She now requested me to cease with the experi- 
ments for that evening; and, as she had gone through 
many others of a different nature, and felt disposed 
to rest, I was obliged to comply. 

Had I not done so, and still persisted, the conse- 
quence would have been that she would have become 
careless, listless, and indifferent, and her answers would 
have been evasive, inadvertent, and unsatisfactory. 

This is an unfortunate condition for the success- 
ful prosecution of experiments ; and, although they 
always very much regret their not complying when 
they awake, it seems impossible for some subjects to 
overcome this feeling or disposition while asleep. 
This feeling is not natural to all, and is by no means 
a necessary condition of the state, but is sometimes 
assumed almost contrary to their sense of courtesy 
or propriety. I have, however, commonly found 
them candid ; but they sometimes, even when most 
opposed to performing experiments, show a seeming 
willingness to do them, yet, if you ask them candidly 
whether they have looked, smelt, or tasted, etc., as the 
case may be, they will say no ; and if asked the reason, 
they will say that they did not feel disposed ; that 
they wanted to sleep, or were thinking about some- 
thing else. It is therefore utterly useless to request 
or urge them to perform any experiment, unless they 
are perfectly willing or feel disposed to do so them- 
selves. 



24c6 ARTIFICIAL somnambulism:. - 

I will here, still farther to illustrate this peculiar 
condition, give a few experiments in detail, which 
were but partially successful. 

VIII. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, Mrs. . 

A wine-glass containing some liquid was placed 
upon the table, and the usual requests were made. 

She was very unwilling either to taste or smell it. 
Said there was no use in doing so ; and that she felt 
so w^ell and comfortable, that she did not wish to be 
disturbed. I then explained the reason why 1 wished 
her to examine it, and endeavored, by argument, per- 
suasion, and every other means in my power, to ob- 
tain her consent ; but all that I could do, in the course 
of half an hour, only wrung from her a partial con- 
sent, the nature of which will be better understood 
by giving her own words ; as, " I will think of it ; 
perhaps I may ; or, I guess I must," etc. She, how- 
ever, finally said that she had examined it; but I 
had the same difficulty in persuading her to say what 
it was. Eventually she said it was some kind of 
wine, but could not be persuaded or prevailed upon 
to name it. 

The glass was examined, and found to contain a 
small portion of currant wine. 

IX. EXPERIMENT. 

A second wine-glass, containing a colorless liquid, 
was placed upon the table, and she was again re- 
quested to examine it. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 247 

The same difficulty was experienced, and it was a 
long time before she could be brought to say any- 
thing positively. She at length said : " That it had 
no smell, but tasted very sweet." 

The glass contained a solution of loaf-sugar in water. 

A third experiment was attempted, but it was im- 
possible to overcome that feeling of listless indiffer- 
ence or independence which had taken hold of her. 

The experiment was of course unsatisfactory ; not 
because she could not render satisfaction, but because 
she would not or could not overcome the indifference 
which possessed her. 

When, therefore, there is a disposition on their 
part not to perform an experiment, it is better to 
drop it at once, as they then frequently say anything 
to get rid of you. But I have never yet hnown them to 
fail in any experiment when the desire to perform it 
originated with themselves. 

I shall conclude the experiments in smell and taste 
by giving two more at a distance : 

X. EXPERIMENT. 

Mr. L , a gentleman who was skeptical upon 

this subject, requested one of my subjects (a gentle- 
man) to state what was contained in a bottle which 
he had placed upon a shelf in a certain room in his 
house, about one mile and a quarter distant. 

After the subject consented, I requested him to 
cast his mind to the place, and to state what was in 
the bottle referred to. He at once stated that it was 
" about half full of gin." 



248 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

His answer was correct, '' Although," as Mr. L 



afterwards stated, " the contents of the bottle were 
known to none but himself;" and he had placed it 
there just before he came over expressly to test his 
powers. 

XI. — EXPERIMENT. 

Subject, Mrs. H . 

Having tried quite a number of experiments at 
short distances, I was anxious to try this lady's powers, 
which are extraordinary, at a greater distance ; con- 
sequently I obtained three vials, as nearly alike as 
possible. I filled the first with spirits of camphor, the 
second with essence of peppermint, and the third 
with pure water. All were white and colorless. The 
vials were then corked, securely sealed, and thorough- 
ly mixed, so that it was impossible to tell the one 
from the other. In this condition they were given 
to my wife, with instructions that after I left home 
she (my wife) was to place the vials promiscuously 
upon a certain shelf in my office, four or five feet 
apart, and to leave them in the same position until I 

retarned home the next day. The subject, Mrs. H , 

was being treated for a nervous affection which ren- 
dered her both blind and lame, but was at this time 
almost entirely restored through Somnambulism. 

My visits to her at this time were made every third 
day, and as I usually remained all night on these oc- 
casions, we had plenty of time for experiments during 
the evening, I arrived there early, and supper being 
over, as usual she entered the condition, and after 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 249 

some experiments in clairvoyance which were very 
satisfactory, I directed her mind to the vials which I 
had requested my wife to place upon the shelf agreed 
upon. She stated at once that she saw them, and de- 
scribed their position. I then directed her to cast her 
mind into the first vial, which stood to the left as she 
faced the shelf, and then to taste and smell what it 
contained. After she had done so, she stated that the 
first bottle to the left " tastes and smells like cam- 
phor." I then remarked that I wanted her to be cer- 
tain in regard to the contents of the vials, as the ex- 
periment was an important one, and would settle a 
great question in my mind. Upon which she again 
stated that the first vial to the left contained spirits 
of camphor, the second or middle one, on the right of 
the first, she examined for some time, and then stated 
that she saw there was something in it, but that it had 
no taste or smell. The third, without any hesitation^ 
she declared contained essence of peppermint. 

Upon my return home the next morning, to my 
great surprise I found that her answers were correct. 
Viz. : that the first vial to the left contained the 
spirits of camphor, the second or middle one, the 
water, and the third to the right the essence of pep- 
permint. 

The distance between the subject and the viala 
was about seven miles, and as no one kaew how the 
vials were placed in regard to their contents, or 
whether they had been placed there or not, the case is 
a strong test of their ability to taste and smell, etc., at 
a distance, as could well be desired, 



I 



260 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTER XXI, 

OF THE SENSE OF FEELING. 

HE following remarks are from a letter to the 
editor of the Philadelphia '■'Spirit of the 
Times,'''' dated December 18th, 1843, and pub- 
lished in that paper on the 23d of the same 
month. 
" The sense of feeling when in this state presents 
many interesting peculiarities, and its study has been 
rendered particularly important on account of the in- 
sensibility which exists, and the advantage which 
may be taken of this phenomenon in performing 
surgical operations. 

*^The possibility of performing operations without 
inflicting pain has been doubted by many, and the in- 
sensibility which exists entirely denied by others. 
This has arisen from the many apparent contradic- 
tions which have been exhibited by different subjects, 
or the same subjects at different times, or from im- 
proper management or a want of knowledge on the 
part of the operator. 

" My attention has been turned particularly to the 
study of the phenomena of this sense, with the view 
of obtaining a correct knowledge of its peculiarities, 
and if possible of finding out the best manner, under 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 251 

all circumstances of alleviating or preventing human 
suffering. 

" I have instituted many experiments to ascertain 
the facts, and present the following as the most im- 
portant and interesting : 

'' When this sense is in this state, and you attempt 
to inflict pain by pinching or otherwise, they may 
feel it or not. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they 
do not. This apparent inconsistency I find is owing 
to their own will, and they can feel or not, just as they 
please. 

" If you pinch them, and they exhibit no signs of 
pain, by simply requesting them to do so, or by draw- 
ing their attention to it, they can feel as well as when 
awake, although you may will them to do the con- 
trary as much as you please. 

"As, therefore, the subject has perfect control over 
this sense also, and may exercise it during an opera- 
tion so as to feel pain, it is necessary to guard against 
their doing so as much as possible. I have performed 
many operations lately without inflicting the least 
pain, or their having the least knowledge of having 
been operated upon until the fact was mentioned to 
them. 

" The method I pursue, if the subject be clairvoyant, 
is simply to take or send them in thought to some 
distant place, or to amuse them by conversing, or 
otherwise, until the operation is completed. If this 
be done properly, the operation may be performed 
not only without inflicting pain, hut theywlll he un- 
conscious of having gone through it at alV^ 



252 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

The powers of feeling in distinguishing articles 
whether by actual contact or at a distance, are as re- 
markable as those of the other senses, and I have 
frequently had subjects restore several articles, given 
them at once, to their right owners, without ever 
having seen the articles or the owners of them 
before. This, as I have before stated, would seem 
to prove that the articles themselves retained a 
peculiar impression, or a something that enabled the 
subject to recognize and restore them to their right 
owners. 

They have also told the quality, size, shape, rough- 
ness, or smoothness, etc., of articles placed at a dis- 
tance, or the temperature of solids, liquids, or of the 
atmosphere in different rooms or places, independent 
of any previous knowledge on our part, to the perfect 
satisfaction of those who at different times were en- 
gaged in the experiments. 

When only a portion of the body is thrown into 
this state by the subject, say a finger, a hand, or an 
arm, etc., they still have the power to feel or not, as 
they please, in these parts; but it at first will be more 
difficult for them to do so than when the mind is also 
in this state. 

The power of throwing any portion of the body 
into this state, independent of the rest, may be ac- 
quired by any person who will practice it under 
proper instructions ; but it will be much more diffi- 
cult for those to acquire it who have not been wholly 
in this state, than for those who have ; but when they 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 253 

have once succeeded with one part, the rest becomes 
more easy. 

The ability to do this is extremely useful in cases 
of injury, when the subject, at will, by doing this, 
could relieve himself from the pain which he other- 
wise would be obliged to suffer, until a physician or 
surgeon could be obtained, and the limb or part set 
and dressed, etc., according to the nature of the injury 
sustained. 

After an operation, or where an injury has been 
sustained, I always request the patient to wake up, 
with the exception of the affected part, so that no pain 
may be experienced during the time necessary for 
its complete restoration. 

It is remarkable that, when a tooth has been ex- 
tracted while in this state, if they have been prop- 
erly managed by the operator, when they awake 
they do not miss it ; or, in other words, feel the va- 
cancy which has been created by its extraction any 
more than they would if it had been out for years, 
and they had become used to its loss ; the tongue, as 
is usually the case, is not thrust into the cavity, and 
the unpleasant feelings created by its loss is not 
experienced. 

I have lately heard some contend that it is useless 
to enter this state until an occasion requires that they 
should. This idea is erroneous and unfounded, be- 
cause many persons cannot enter it easily at the first 
trial, particularly when they are laboring under pain, 
and therefore ought to practice it until they can do 
so with facility. 



254 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

Many object to this also, because they fear, that if 
it be entered too frequently, it may become a habit, 
and they might fall into it when they did not wish. 

This is also a mistaken idea, and all the cases upon 
record have happened because they have been im- 
properly managed, and did not understand the true 
nature of the sleep. I have never yet seen any- 
thing of the kind, although I have had hundreds 
under my care who have entered it in less than 
half a minute, and some of them as often as six 
or eight times a day, or a hundred times within a 
year, without any bad effects, or any danger of its 
becoming a habit which they could not check at 
pleasure. 

To give the reader an idea of the advantage of being 
able to enter this state quickly, or at pleasure, I will re- 
late the following case of injury, which was entirely 
relieved in less than two minutes by entering the 
state at will. 

I. — CASE. 

Miss , in attempting to place a smoothing- 
iron upon a high mantel-piece, stepped upon a chair, 
and in reaching up the cbair tilted, and she fell across 
its sharp back, upon her right side, with her whole 
weight, injuring several of her ribs, etc. Somnam- 
bulism was proposed, but objected to, because she 
did not believe she could enter the state while suffer- 
ing so much pain. She was then bled, purged, and 
other remedies applied and used without any relief 
whatever. 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 255 

Upon tlie third day after the accident, I again pro- 
posed Somnambulism, but she objected as before. I, 
however, now insisted upon her making the trial, 
and, as she had been in the state frequently before, I 
did not apprehend any difficulty. She was suffering 
extremely at the time, yet, notwithstanding, she en- 
tered the state in about one minute ; and, when inter- 
rogated respecting the pain in her side, she declared 
that she did not feel it at all, and kept pressing her 
side with impunity. She remained in the state about 
fifteen minutes, when, after being directed to leave 
that part in the state, she awoke entirely free from 
pain, and immediately went about her usual occu- 
pations. 

Two days after I was again sent for, as she had a 
return of the pain, occasioned by imprudence in. 
over-exertion. 

I found her laboring under the same symptoms, 
and suffering full as much as she did before. She 
entered the state again, with the same results, and 
awoke, as before, free from pain, and has never felt 
anything of the kind, although it is now many years 
since the accident occurred. 

ANOTHER CASE, 

Which was related to me by the gentleman himself, 
is as follows : 

Mr. H , whom I had previously taught to 

throw any part of the body into this state at will, 
having had his forefinger mashed between two rail- 



256 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

road cars, threw it, although suffering very much at 
the time, into this state very readily, and declared to 
,me that, from the very moment that he had done so 
until it was entirely healed, he had not experienced 
the least pain, although, at the time, he was obliged 
to press it into shape, etc., until the necessary band- 
ages, etc., were applied. 

ANOTHER CASE. 

Subject, Miss , of Philadelphia. 

During the time that I lectured upon Artificial 
Somnambulism in Philadelphia, I taught this young 
lady to throw any part of her body into the somnam- 
bulic or insensible condition at pleasure, and in 
about six weeks after I returned home, I received 
a letter from the father, stating that he would 
not take a thousand dollars for what I had taught 
his daughter, as she had lately met with an acci- 
dent from boiling water, which so severely scalded 
her leg and foot that the skin adhered to the 
stocking when it was taken off. Yet, notwithstand- 
ing the severity of the scald, she threw the leg and 
foot into the insensible condition in an instant, 
and kept it in that state during the time neces- 
sary for its restoration, which was not long in being 
accomplished, as the scalded parts seemed to dry 
up, without any inflammation, pain, or suffering of 
any kind. 

This is a remarkable case, and shows the use of 
being able to enter this condition at any time that it 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 257 

may become necessary, and as no possible injury can 
result, or habit arise, from the power of exercising it 
at pleasure, those who do not avail themselves of its 
blessings do not only "■ stand in their own light," 
but are slaves to prejudice, superstition, ignorance, 
or bigotry, and unnecessary suffering will exist, 
until a higher plane is assumed and its blessings 
realized. 



258 AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTER XXII. 

OF THE SENSE OF MOTION. 

'HIS power, like tlie sense of feeling, etc., I 
believe to be a distinct sense or faculty situ- 
ated in the brain, and having all the functions 
or kinds of action with the rest, and, like 
thera, capable of being educated. 
1 conceive that, like the rest of the faculties, it 
must perceive, recognize, or observe, and that this 
power in this faculty, combined with its own function 
of love, produces an emotion or a love of motion, 
which is a passion as well as the love of offspring, 
the love of order, causes, or comparisons, etc., and 
that its functions of will — with the will of other 
organs — having control of the muscular system, can 
cause all kinds of motions to be made. But when 
the above three functions, viz. : perception, love, and 
the will, only act together, they will be motions 
simply irregular and undetermined, which, however, 
its judgment, if active, can render definite, or the 
imagination original. If these be combined or asso- 
ciated with the functions of imitation, imitative mo- 
tions can be made, and if the memory becomes active, 
one, both, or all may be recalled, and again perceived 
and again remade, etc., according as the functions of 
this faculty are combined with those of another. 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. ' 259 

If the power of motion acts independent of tlie 
judgment of that faculty, then the motions will be 
irregular, as in Chorea, Sancti Yiti, Saint Yitus's 
Dance, irregular startings, or twitchings, etc. We 
may desire to move, and yet no motion may follow, 
as in disease where the faculty is injured, as in 
Paralysis or Palsy. 

In a somnambulic state, the existence of a distinct 
power to recognize, conceive, and make motions is 
still more evident, and I have frequently had subjects 
to imitate my motions when they were not otherwise 
clairvoyant, and the attention of this faculty with 
that of imitation was directed to what I was doing, as 
I have already explained in another chapter. 

The imitations, however, cannot be produced when 
these faculties are not clear minded, or their atten- 
tions are not watchful. But when excited, I have 
frequently seen them continue, at intervals, a long 
time after all endeavors upon my part to excite them, 
had ceased. Indeed, sometimes upon entering the 
state, on another occasion, the same motions would 
be again made, although I was not thinking of them, 
or endeavoring to excite like motions in them. In 
this case, the memories of the faculties which, on a 
former occasion, were acting, are recalling the former 
impressions, and the motions resulting are the effects 
of that recalling. When the mind is otherwise en- 
gaged these motions cannot be produced, and they 
only take place when the attention of these faculties 
are active, and they may then frequently be produced 

independent of the subject's knowledge. 
15 



260 AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

When these imitative motions are produced inde- 
pendent of the subject's knowledge, they are the 
result of the activity of the functions of attention and 
perception, etc., in the organs of motion and imitation 
independent of the functions of consciousness, etc., in 
either of these organs, and are perceptions or mind- 
readings proper belonging to these faculties. 

Some subjects are only partially clearminded, or 
rather, some of the faculties are clearminded, and 
others not. I have had some subjects to perceive 
things and not individuals. Some would see indi- 
viduals and not colors, etc., according as these facul- 
ties were perfectly in the state or not. 

I conceive, therefore, as I have before stated in 
other chapters, that each and every faculty belonging 
to the brain, when in a state of Artificial Somnam- 
bulism, possess this power, viz. : perception, in a 
greater or less degree, and has power to perceive 
what relates to its or their peculiar powers, whether 
it be in the mind of another, or in the external world, 
etc., and will perceive correctly or not, according as 
their individual attention has been fixed, or their 
imagination in the respective faculties may have been 
restrained or not. 

The rigidity or apparent inability to move, which 
is often exhibited in subjects in a state of Artificial 
Somnambulism only exists, because the subjects 
believe that it must be so, and that they cannot alter 
it. This is a gross mistake, instilled by operators 
who are ignorant of the facts, and very little trouble 
will soon convince any person that the subject can, 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 261 

at any time, by an act of their own will, relax any 
muscle, or make any set of muscles rigid contrary to 
the will of any one. 

They can do this, too, whether the head be in this 
state or not, and it only requires an exertion on their 
part to eft'ect either. I therefore contend that all 
reverse passes, or passes of any other kind, are worse 
than useless, because the subjects themselves can 
cause or shake it off* in all cases whenever they choose, 
if the endeavor to do either be really made, no 
matter whether the so-called operator wills to the 
contrary or not. 

OF THEIR PHYSICAL STRENGTH. 

The physical strength of persons while in this 
state, compared with that when awake, can be much 
increased by them at will. I could relate many 
cases in which this has been successfully demon- 
strated, but it will be sufficient to state that I have 
seen some hold out at arm's length weights which, 
when awake, they could not possibly so extend. 

Indeed, I have seen some delicate young ladies 
lift, with apparent ease, weights which the strongest 
gentleman in the room had considerable difficulty in 
raisino^ to the same level. 

But operators should be careful not to urge their 
lifting too far, for, although they may not feel the 
effects when asleep, they might do so when awake, 
particularly if their minds have not been directed, 
while in this condition, so as to prevent it. This 
should always be done before they awake. 



262 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 




CHAPTEE XXII. 

OF THE INFLUENCE OF ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM 
ON THE SYSTEM. 

ARIOUS opinions have been entertained upon 
this subject at different times. Some in whom 
superstition, prejudice, and ignorance of the 
phenomena prevailed, were opposed to and 
spread all kinds of evil reports against it, from 
witchcraft down to diseases caused bj it which could 
never be cured. 

Others, again, who were fond of the wonderful, 
exalted it to the skies, as being the long sought for 
desideratum of universal health — the elixir of life and 
remover of all diseases. 

Reports of the question on both sides were exag- 
gerated, and between the two extremes, it was at one 
time impossible to decide which was true and which 
was false. 

I shall give my experience of its influence, first, 
upon the healthy subject, and then upon those who 
are diseased. 

I. OF ITS INFLUENCE UPON A HEALTHY SUBJECT. 

If a person in perfect health enters this state, and 
while in it be properly taken care of and taught how 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 263 

lie shall relieve himself, it cannot do him any injury 
whatever, and he will feel as well when he awakes as 
before he entered it. He will, if anything, feel better 
and be more refreshed, buoyant, and active, unless a 
positive resolution upon his part, while in the state, 
should produce an opposite result. 

If a person should feel weary before he enters it, 
he will have lost the whole of it when he awakes if 
his mind has been properly directed, and will be as 
fit to undergo the same exertions as before he became 
weary, although he may have only been in it a few 
minutes. I have frequently, after a hard day's work, 
seen them entirely relieved in a few minutes from 
the stiffness and soreness which existed ; but it re- 
quires that their minds should be properly directed 
while in the state, or the soreness, etc., will remain 
when they awake. This will, however, be fully ex- 
plained when I come to the treatment of diseases. 

I have been frequently asked the question, "What 
good can result from entering this state when in per- 
fect health ?" 

I answer that, if properly managed while in it, no 
evil can possibly result, and that it is impossible to 
say or know how soon the entering this state may 
become desirable. 

Every man is liable to accident, and may become 
injured or ill, and if he has once been in this state he 
can enter it with more facility even while he may be 
suffering pain, and I give this as a reason why all 
who desire to enter it should do so under the care of 
proper persons, so that, if necessity requires it, the 



264: ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

subject can accomplisli it whenever it becomes de- 
sirable. 

The oftener a person has entered it, the more 
readily he can accomplish it, and this shows the ne- 
cessity of practising it until the power to enter it 
sufficiently soon is completely acquired. 

It cannot, however, be denied that injury has some- 
times been sustained by some from improper manage- 
merit, as the following case, related by J. G. Foreman, 
while in Lexington, Kentucky, and published in the 
" Magnet,'''' fully demonstrates. 

I extract the following from his letter to the editor : 

" The object for which I commenced this commu- 
nication was to relate an accident that occurred with 
the lad already alluded to, of quite an alarming 
character, and one that will serve as a caution to 
persons unacquainted with the nature of the mys- 
terious influence. 

" After I left Danville, the lad was magnetized by 
any one that felt the inclination or curiosity, not- 
withstanding the warning I gave in my public lectures 
of the danger of meddling with it without a knowl- 
edge of its principles, and of the human system in 
general. The consequence was that in a short time 
he was very much injured. 

" Persons were allowed to magnetize him on various 
occasions ; and many of them, in exciting the different 
parts of the brain, handled him very roughly. His 
mind became considerably affected^ and disturbed him 
in his sleep ; and to conclude the amount of injury 
done him, he finally became deaf and dumb I ! 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 265 

" Several days after this occurrence, I happened to 
be in Danville again. I saw the lad, and he could 
neither hear nor speak. He used a slate, and com- 
municated with me in writing. He seemed very much 
grieved about his affliction, and had already learned 
the deaf and dumb alphabet, and was beginning to 
learn signs ; he had not lost the memory of words, 
but his organs of hearing and speech had become 
paralyzed. I persuaded him to sit down and let 
me magnetize him properly, and I told him that it 
would probably cure him. He consented; and in a 
few minutes he was fast asleep. 

" He then, whilst in this condition, gave an account 
of the cause of his deafness, stating that a physician 

of Lancaster, by the name of Dr. H , had enticed 

him from home — while his brother, Dr. Yan Camp, was 
in Louisville — by false representations to the rest of 
the family, notwithstanding his brother had expressly 
forbidden that he should leave home, or be magne- 
tized in his absence ; that Dr. H magnetized him 

on several occasions for the amusement of his friends ; 
and in experimenting in phreno-magnetism, had in- 
jured his brain by the rough manner with which he 
handled his head. He also attributed the injury, in 
some measure, to a similar treatment from others, 
who had been in the habit of experimenting upon his 
brain. 

" This statement was confirmed by his brother, Dr. 
Yan Camp, and without learning anything more of 
importance from him, I waked the lad up. As he 



26(5 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

opened his eves he was perfectly astonished to see 
me in the room, asked me when I came from Dan- 
ville, and talked with me freely as thongh nothing 
had happened. We soon discovered, from his con- 
versation, that he was perfectly unconscious of the 
time he had been in the deaf and dumb state, and 
upon asking him what day it was, he named the very 
day on which he fell into this remarkable condition. 
He had no recollection of having been deaf and dumb, 
and was astonished at our inquiries." 

Many other instances are related by various au- 
thors of injury from improper treatment on the part 
of inexperienced operators, but they never take place 
where the proper treatment is pursued, particularly 
if the subjects be acquainted with the true nature of 
the state into which they are about to enter. They 
then know their powers, and never submit to any 
improper treatment from any person. 

II. — OF THE INFLUENCE OF ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM UPON 
DISEASED SUBJECTS. 

If a patient enters this state for the relief of dis- 
ease, and while in it no allusion to his disease be made, 
or he does not think of it, or places his mind upon 
it of his own accord in a proper manner, no relief 
will be experienced when he awakes. 

This fact, so far as I know, has never been men- 
tioned or observed, and is the reason why some per- 
sons have entered it without experiencing any relief. 

It is therefore highly necessary, when relief of any 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 267 

kind is desired by a subject, that Jus mind should he 
placed upon the disease^ and before he awakes he should 
resolve to forget it, or that it shall cease to trouble him 
when he awakes. 

Early in my operations I observed the power of 
subjects, while in this condition, to remember or for- 
get what they pleased, or of correcting habits, etc., 
which were "unpleasant, and soon after applied it to 
the relief of disease ; and I have always since found 
that the firmer the resolution made in this state is, 
that the disease or habit shall cease, the sooner and 
more permanent will be the relief experienced when 
they awake. 

Heretofore, most operators have depended upon 
the sleep itself for the relief of the disease, but I 
was frequently disappointed in this, and looked for 
information in vain upon this subject, until I dis- 
covered the above method, and have since had but 
little difficulty when I could get them to fix their 
minds properly. It requires much less time and fewer 
sittings to effect an object, and I therefore give this 
as the best method with which I am at present ac- 
quainted, and believe that it is the only one in which 
the desired result can be obtained. 

Most subjects have power to create pain in any 
part of their body while in this condition, and will 
feel the same when they awake, if they believe or re- 
solve that they will have it before they throw them- 
selves out of the state. It is therefore necessary, to 
prevent any unpleasant feelings when they awake, to 



268 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

make them resolve to feel well when they have thrown 
themselves out. 

Many imagine they feel badly, or have pains, etc., 
while in this state, which amounts to the same as if 
they had made a resolution to have them ; and they 
will suffer as long as this conceit lasts, or until their 
minds are drawn from it. All unpleasant feelings, 
however, will subside as soon as the mind is with- 
drawn or directed to something else, and this the in- 
structor should always be careful to do as soon as 
they complain. I have taught many who have prac- 
ticed the art to relieve themselves of pain or disease, 
even when otherwise perfectly awake. This, how- 
ever, is not easily accomplished when they have 
never been in the state. 



^ 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 269 




CHAPTER XXIY. 

ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM CONSIDERED AS A 
THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 

FTER what lias been said under the head of 
its influence upon diseased persons, it will 
only be necessary here to add, that the in- 
fluence of the mind has often been too much 
overlooked in the cure of diseases in a natural 
state. 

It is well known to every practitioner of medicine, 
that, bread pills, given as a purgative, have acted in 
that way ; pure water as an emetic ; and that saliva- 
tion has been produced by gum pills. We have 
cases upon record where the hair has turned gray in 
a few hours through fear ; and that even death has 
been produced by blindfolding, and making a crim- 
inal, condemned to die, believe that he was bleeding, 
although not a drop of blood flowed, etc. 

I have cured many affections by simply acting 
upon the mind of the patient while in a natural 
state ; and among the number were several subject 
to convulsions, and one particularly who believed 
himself " 'bewitched,^'' and who had not, according to 
his own account, slept for six weeks, by simply sus- 
pending a leather bag about his neck containing some 



270 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

strong-smelling drugs, and making him believe that 
the cure was infallible. He believed that it would 
cure him, and the cure was effected, not bj any vir- 
tue in the drugs contained in the bag, but bj his 
own belief. 

I could relate many cases, were it necessary, to 
prove the influence of the mind in absolute disease, 
but sufficient has already been said, and I shall now 
proceed to notice the method employed in Somnam- 
bulism by Dr. A. Teste, in his late work upon "Ani- 
mal Magnetism ;" and in order that the reader may 
at once understand his views upon this subject, I will 
extract the following : 

" Is magnetism alone sufficient for the cure of all 
diseases ? ISTo ; and the best proof that can be given 
of it is, that somnambulists almost always prescribe 
something more than magnetism. It is, then, beyond 
all doubt that Mesmer and D'Eslon were deceived 
when, with their magnetic wand, they effaced the 
word incurable from the list of our infirmities. I 
wish to believe that a natural enthusiasm misled these 
two men ; but what would they have done if, more 
favored by chance, they had discovered the secret of 
our magnetic treatment as it now exists? if, in a 
word, they had found that their guide, in each of 
their patients, was the unerring instinct and sublime 
reason of a somnambulist ?" 

Can it be, T must ask, that one of the greatest ad- 
vocates of the science in France upholds such a doc- 
trine, and depends implicitly upon ''the unerring 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 271 

instinct and sublime reason of a somnambulist" for 
information in the cure of diseases ? That he will 
submit to be guided by the judgment of any of his 
patients while asleep, and treat them when they 
awake as they themselves have directed, since it is 
well known that, whatever they conceit, determine 
upon, or say of themselves while in this state, will 
happen to them when awake, because their minds have 
been so directed or improperly allowed to wander in- 
stead of directing them to fix them upon their disease 
at once, and requesting them to resolve that it shall 
be otherwise? But he goes on to say: "We shall 
see in the following chapter what this new medicine 
is of which we make ourselves the apostle." 

" I know not," continued the same author, page 
227, "how far the hypothesis which I have laid down 
occasionally, regarding the medical instincts of primi- 
tive men, is well founded ; but one thing which I 
hold indisputable is, that these instincts do really 
exist at the bottom of all human organization, and 
that the only state in which these instincts reveal 
themselves at the present day is the state of Somnam- 
bulism. Broussais said, some twenty years ago, to a 
friend of his, ' If magnetism were true medicine would 
be an absurdity,' a strict proposition, of which the 
most distinguished of physicians rejected the conse- 
quent, only because he did not believe in the antece- 
dent. Now, I say it, and I proclaim it in the face of 
the world, this consequent which startled the great 
systematist of Yal de Grace, I admit wholly, ex- 



272 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

j)licitly, and without reserve ; for tlie two terms of 
his proposition equally constitute; in mj mind, two 
undeniable truths. 

"All then that remains is to solve this question : 
Are all patients susceptible of falling into Somnam- 
bulism, and consequently of treating themselves ? 
Certainly not. But fortunately, as we have already 
shown, the medical instinct of a great number of 
somnambulists may be exercised to the advantage of 
others. To remove every obstacle then, all that is to 
be done is to bring the one into relation with the 
sick persons on whom the magnetism shall have 
failed to act directly. Thus, to wrest forever the 
practice of medicine from intelligence and to trust it 
to instinct, such is the vast project which I conceive ; 
for I tell you sincerely, the clairvoyance of an idiot 
in a state of Somnambulism, would inspire me with 
more confidence, if I were sick, than the greatest 
geniuses which grace modern medicine. And I 
mean that this new practice of the medical art should 
be universal, and be applied to all cases. The study 
of Anatomy, of operations will alone remain in our 
schools for the purpose of making surgeons ; but all 
the acts of the latter again shall be subordinate to the 
suggestions of the somnambulist. I know well that, 
in saying this, I am covering myself with ridicule, 
because we must not outrun our own age. Jean 
Jaques has said, somewhere, that it was a sort of 
madness to be wise among fools. Well, be it so ! I 
am satisfied, if it must be so, to pass for a fool ; but i 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 273 

never shall have to reproach myself with the cowardice 
of having seen an important truth without daring to 
announce it. My resolution is taken on this point, 
and I shall follow up my task to the very end. 

" We are then now going to pass in review two 
orders of fact : 

" 1st. The patients themselves directing their treat- 
ment during their Somnambulism. 

" 2d. The somnambulist directing the treatment of 
other patients. 

" The first question must be treated immediately, 
the second will form the subject of the following 
chapter. 

" Extatics predicting months beforehand, the return 
of their accessions, and describing with perfect exact- 
ness all the symptoms of their disease, were phe- 
nomena which must have astonished, to an extraor- 
dinary degree, the first observers who witnessed 
them. But when they recovered from their aston- 
ishment, must not reflection on what they had seen 
have suggested to them strange inferences ? 

"Could it not be, in fact, that a patient, so well 
informed on the causes, the nature, the course and 
issue of his disease might know something regarding 
the expedients to be employed to cure or relieve 
him ? Certainly, such an idea could scarcely fail to 
occur to a physician, however infatuated he might be 
with his profession ; and if the patient answered, if 
he suggested remedies and traced out a plan of regi- 
men, would there be a reason for wavering about 



274 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

conforming to his advice? For my own part, I 
think that my medical pride would not hesitate about 
bowing before these prejudices, and that I should be 
profoundly ridiculous if I attempted to write a pre- 
scription for this new oracle of Epidaurus, who fore- 
told, a month ago, a disease the existence of which I 
would not have suspected one hour before its inva- 
sion. What! when his life is at stake, and conse- 
quently he can have no idea of deceiving me, when 
he assures me that he knows the remedy required 
for his disease? As he knows the causes and nature 
of his disease should I dare to give him my advice 
and mix my voice with his? Oh, no! I am silent. 
I give up my rights ; I renounce my poor miserable 
knowledge, and I bow with admiration before those 
sublime revelations which must emanate from God 
himself. I hear his prophetic voice to register, with 
minute exactness, all the words it utters; then to 
follow, step by step, the counsels I have received 
from it. To this alone shall I confine my functions. ■■ 

"Now, what is the result? That under the influ- 
ence of his own prescriptions, this future demoniac 
obtains a rapid cure. Well, now let us conclude 
he is cured. He is cured by means of which I should 
not have even thought, by a strange mode of treat- 
ment, the idea of which would never have occurred 
to me. His medicine then is the true one ; but then, 
what would mine have been ?" 

I was aware that the science of Artificial Somnam- 
bulism was not properly understood in France, but 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 275 

I was not prepared to hear such erroneous doctrines 
from that source. 

I believe Dr. Teste to be honestly sincere in all 
that he has said, but he has been misled by appear- 
ances, and has taken too much for granted. He saw 
that they predicted their own cases, etc., correctly, and, 
without looking for a cause, seized upon it as a guide 
to his future operations. Hence his theory and 
blindfold application. It is no wonder that the 
science should sufl'er and meet with ridicule at 
every turn, when the leaders of the science publish 
such palpably erroneous and undigested doctrines. 

The "medical instinct," upon which so much stress 
is laid by this author, exists only in the "mind's 
eye" or imagination of the doctor and his subjects. 
The predictions, or rather what has been determined 
upon by subjects months before while in this state, I 
am well aware, come to pass — but why do they come to 
pass? Simphj because they have determined that they 
shall, and believe that they must and will. But it does 
not follow, that because these beliefs or determinations 
do come to pass, that they are true knowledge and a 
" prophetic voice," or " revelations from God himself," 
or that the cure might not have been effected in one 
tenth the time if their minds had been properly di- 
rected, instead of trusting to the "clairvoyance of an 
idiot," or the caprice of any other subject. 

I deny, most positively, that they have any more 

knowledge of medicines in this state than they have 

when awake, and again insist that if they never had been 
16 



276 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

suffered to predict^ what did follow their predictions never 
would have taken place. 

If the subject has been properly informed respect- 
ing tlie true nature of the phenomena of this sleep, no 
such predictions will ever be thought of; and I contend 
that much injury has been sustained and much valuable 
time lost by suffering subjects to believe that they can pre- 
dict or prescribe in this way. These predictions should 
never be permitted, and all who instil such doctrines 
and permit such notions to be practised, I consider the 
■cause of all the ills that may follow. 

To give the reader an idea of the manner in which 
these predictions and prescriptions are brought about, 
I will quote a case from the same work. It is as 
follows : 

" It is precisely three o'clock. Josephine submits 
with confidence, and is asleep at ten minutes past 
three. 

" ' Are you asleep, Josephine V 

** ' Yes, sir.' 

" ^Are you sufficiently magnetized ?' 

" ' Yes, sir ; but when you pass your hands over 
my chest you do me the greatest good.' 

" I magnetized her for some minutes over the 
region of the heart, and she says she feels a calm and 
an as^reeable sensation. 

"'Do you now think that magnetism will cure 
you ?' 

" ' Yes, I am certain of it, nor will it require a very 
long time.' 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 277 

' ' How long will it require ?' 

" ' I do not know yet ; I shall be able to tell in a 
few days.' 

" ' You do not see clearly?' 

" ' IsTo, but I shall soon. Wait. I shall see clearly 
to-morrow.' 

" ' At what hour ?' 

" ' At three o'clock. N"o — at a quarter past 
three.' 

" ' Will you then be able to tell us what we should 
do to cure you ?' 

" ' Oh ! yes, I shall tell you.' 

" 'How long must we let you sleep?' 

" ' Till within a quarter of four.' 

" * What is the time now ?' 

" ' Twenty-five minutes after three.' 

"I looked at the clock, to which Josephine's back 
is turned, and she is perfectly right as to the time. 

" 'How will you be this evening?' 

"'I shall be very well.' 

" 'And during the night?' 

" ' Yery well, indeed.' 

"'Will you have an appetite for dinner?' 

" ' Not much, but I must eat for all that.' 

"'What?' 

" ' Soup and beef.' 

'• ' You told me that you digested soup with con- 
siderable difficulty, and that the meat always dis- 
agreed with you.' 

" ' True, but this evening it will do me no harm.' 



278 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

" 'You must then recollect tliis when jou awake." 

" ' YeS; sir. Oh ! I beg you,' adds she, 'magnetize 
me a little more over the heart — that does me good.' 

" I submitted to Josephine's desire ; she thanked 
me several times in the most grateful terms of ac- 
knowledgment. 

" Some minutes after, I awakened her just at the 
time she mentioned. 

" She smiles at awaking, as at going to sleep. Her 
looks at first express dullness, then astonishment, then 
comfort and gratitude. She rises in a sprightly man- 
ner, and cries out with enthusiasm : 

" ' It is astonishing how much better I feel than 1 
felt some days ago ; I feel myself as light as a 
dancer.' 

" I impress on Josephine the obligation imposed on 
her to take soup and beef for dinner, and after having 
given me her formal promise to conform in every par- 
ticular to my directions, she leaves me, and goes 
down stairs running." 

After what I have already written in this work, it 
will be unnecessary to make any further comment, as 
I presume my readers will see the absurdity and use- 
lessness of the above proceedings. 

I quote the following case of ecstacy and catalepsy 
to show that valuable lives have been put in great 
danger, and much time lost, by suffering them to 
predict and prescribe for themselves, and then en- 
forcing their own prescriptions upon them when 
awake. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 279 

" Case of Madame Comet," from Dr. Teste's work, 
page 230. 

" Nov. 25t"h, 1839, Madame Comet predicted, in tlie 
presence of several members of the Academy, that 
Dec. oth she should be seized with a stitch in the side, 
and that, without any reference to the period of her 
menses, it would be necessary to bleed her. Accord- 
ingly, the day before yesterday she was attacked with 
a severe pain in her left side. In her last sleep she 
stated that this pain is seated in the lung, that there 
will be spitting of blood, and that to-morrow at nine 
o'clock in the morning, it will he necessary to bleed her 
to twenty ounces ^ 

As M. Frapart's letter, which corresponds to this 
phase of the disease of M. Comet, includes a multitude 
of little details, the recital of which we cannot abridge 
without altering the truth, we shall transcribe this 
letter without altering the text. 

"To Monsieur Bazile. A Courquataine. 

''Paris, Dec. 16th, 1839. 

" My Good Friend : — I take up the history of the 
disease of Madame Comet at the moment this lady is 
just after losing twenty ounces of blood. It was 
the 8th of the month. Since then, every evening, 
Madame Comet has an accession of Somnambulism, 
which lasts sometimes a quarter of an hour, during 
which everything occurs just as in that which I have 
described to you ; that is, it presents two very dis- 
tinct, successive states ; one of ecstacy, and the other 



280 . ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

of catalepsy. In the latter, tlie patient appears to 
hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing, comprehend 
nothing ; does not speak, stirs not, scarcely breathes, 
retains immovable all the positions given her, and, I 
hardly dare say it, seems to have lost a portion of the 
weight of her limbs. In the former there are other 
strange phenomena. The patient finds herself, I 
mean has the air of finding herself, in communication 
with a being whom nobody sees, no one hears, no one 
touches; and to whom, however, if a serious man 
may be allowed to narrate such impressions, one 
would be almost tempted to believe, she speaks and 
answers. The first of these facts is extraordinary, 
the second is astounding ! It is in this state of ecstasy 
that Madame Comet speaks of her disease; says 
where it is, how it will go on, when it will terminate, 
orders the treatment suitable for the fluxion of the 
chest under which she labors, does not forget the 
regimen, prescribes the dose of opium which ought 
to be given to her, predicts the hour of the duration 
of her accession of the following day ; determines, in 
fine, the day when she will no longer have any acces- 
sions. 

"At each sitting it is just the same thing, with 
some variations, depending, no doubt, on the course 
of the disease, and which I shall notice as I go on. 
It was during the crisis of the 8th, Madame Comet 
states, that the twenty ounces of blood taken from 
her in the morning were inconsiderable, and that it 
would be necessary to take a pound from her again 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 281 

the day after to-morrow. We weigh, the blood drawn, 
and we actually ascertain that the measure prescribed 
was not obtained. If it is for this that we must 
re-commence the operation, it is rather disagreeable, 
and even a little alarming ; for the disease is so old, 
and the patient so weak, that further depletion may 
prove fatal. Besides, supposing the prescription in- 
fallible, how are we to keep clear of some slip or 
oversight that may occur in the execution of it? 
This seems to me very difficult. In the practice of 
our profession, it is only by an exception that even 
the most skillful can obtain their end accurately and 
correctly. It is deplorable, but so it is. Decidedly, 
Madame Comet is in a bad way ; and, however learned 
her physician may be, however devoted her attend- 
ants may be, I am uneasy regarding the result. I 
think it will be difficult to reach the harbor in perfect 
safety. However, as we have no reason to distrust the 
prescriptions of the physician, they are made up to the 
very letter. Accordingly, on the 10th, after all the pre- 
cautions taken beforehand, M. Comet takes from his 
patient nearly seventeen ounces of blood. This time, 
at least, we do not err by deficiency. The fact is, that 
in the course of the day the symptoms of fluxion of the 
chest diminish, and in the accession of ecstasy in the 
evening, Madame Comet assures us that all is going 
on better ; that all is well ; that everything has suc- 
ceeded. On the next day the same assertions on her 
part — the same security on ours. But it is all mere 
chance in this world. On the 12th the patient de^ 



282 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

clares tliat another bleeding will be necessary to de- 
stroy entirely tbe pulmonary inflammation ; that this 
bleeding is not to be performed either on the 13th or 
14th, but on Sunday, the 15th ; that we shall hesitate 
to perform it for her; and that she cannot yet deter- 
mine the quantity. Such a prediction puts us to a 
nonplus. M. Comet is not so formed for passive 
obedience as to be able to walk with his eyes shut ; 
and as for me, though a little more pliant — at least 
with facts of this kind, considering that for years 
back I practised homoeopathy — I have got out of the 
way of butchering my patients — I felt almost dis- 
posed to doubt and kick. But, all at once, recalling 
my long experience, which taught me that a somnam- 
hulist,no matter what he prescribes for himself , never pre- 
scribes anything wrong ; since he is always safe when his 
prescriptions are accurately followed, and my profound 
ignorance of the secrets of nature, I submit, and en- 
deavor to induce M. Comet to do the same. At 
length, submission. During the storm, it is better 
to accept as pilot the first that offers than to take 
none. It is taking at least a chance of safety. 

"On the evening of the 14th, Madame Comet, who, 
no doubt, up to this did not wish to alarm us, tells us 
it will be necessary to take from her full twenty four 
ounces of this precious liquid which sustains life; 
and that, even if she is weak, the bleeding must not 
be neglected, for syncope is necessary; without this, 
that matters cannot be concluded, or, rather, they 
would be concluded very soon. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 2bb 

''M. Comet staggers ; his poor patient is so ill ; she is 
so weak, so pale, so bloodless, so sunk, so dying, that 
in truth one must have a stupid faith, or a deep- 
rooted conviction to venture to continue a course 
which appears beset with so many rocks. For my 
part, however, my resolution is formed ; true it is, it 
is not my own wife I have to butcher in this way ; 
and yet, if it were my wife, I am convinced I would 
not flinch. IS'o somnambulist was ever a suicide. In 
the midst of a dark sky have we not a star to direct 
us, and which will not disappear until we shall have 
no further occasion for it ? But if this star should 
happen to fail us before the time ! O darkness ! 
darkness ! that would be dying alone in the cata- 
combs ! 

"Amid the hopes and fears which disturb our 
minds, after having taken all our dimensions so as 
not to go either to the right or to the left of our desti- 
nation, so as not to remain short of the goal, or to go 
biyond it, yesterday, at nine o'clock in the morning, 
M. Comet perform.s a large bleeding, in which the 
blood flows quite freely ; nearly twenty ounces were 
taken ! and we see no syncope come on. The arm is 
tied up ; but scarcely is the bandage applied when 
alarming circumstances appear ; all present become 
alarmed at them ; they, however, are ultimately ap- 
peased ; I then leave the patient ; twenty minutes 
after, new symptoms arise ; all present are terrified, 
and' commence to weep ; they run up to me as if I 
could do anything. There am I the doctor again in 



2b4: ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

spite of me. But what part am I to take when there 
is no part to be taken? But, instead of pretending 
to cry, as every physician who knows his business 
should do in such circumstances, I endeavor to set a 
good face on a bad game ; I encourage the discon- 
solate family by saying to them : ' We are not mis- 
taken ; the somnambulist is never deceived ; let us 
remain calm. Besides — hope did not yet abandon me 
— ^have I not myself been bled eight times in one and 
the same disease, not to mind the several hundred 
leeches besides ? and I am not dead. Then my prin- 
ciple is not to despair of the game till it is absolutely 
lost. Madame Comet is not dead I — she will not die !' 
" However, the day passed on amid great anguish 
of mind, as it always did at the hour it should occur. 
There are cruel efforts to vomit ; some hesitation is 
felt about giving a large dose of opium — there is but 
one instant for the seasonable administration of this 
disgusting draught. In short, the accession does not 
arrive — the star no longer shines — we are out of our 
latitude. I arm myself with courage, and fly for 
refuge to my conscience. However, as luck would 
have it, the accession is only retarded — there it is ! 
'All has passed off quite well,' said the patient, in 
her ecstatic sleep ; ' the bleeding has not been too 
much. Give me instantly the dose of opium I was 
to take. To-morrow the stitch in the side will be 
diminished; and next Wednesday I shall be quite 
freed from it. With respect to my accession, their 
disappearance is for the 28th of this month. I am 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBL'LISM. 285 

weak, no doubt, and sTiall be so for a long time. My 
convalescence will be painful. It is necessary to 
begin to give me nonrisbment in order to recover my 
strength. The food I shall point out will do me no 
harm. To-morrow, at half-past eight, my accession 
will come, and will last fifteen minutes; the same 
quantity of laudanum will be given to me as to-day. 
Thank God, it is gone !' Then comes on the catalep- 
tic state, wbicb is soon followed by the waking state. 
And I too awake, and am much relieved. I feel, for 
I had nightmare, the life of a woman was lying heavy 
on my chest. 

'' Fortunately, in great crisis, tbe depth of the abyss 
is not measured until it is quite cleared. 

"Adieu, etc., FE APART, D. M. P." 

Witb respect to the above case of ecstacy, it is very 
evident that her predictions made the bleedings and 
enormous doses of opium necessary ; but, if she had 
known the true nature of her state and her absolute 
powers therein, it is also very evident that she never 
wonld have predicted. 

If, instead of predicting aud prescribing for berself, 
she had resolved to throw off her disease, she could 
have done so at once, without the bleedings or the 
opium, etc. 

Her recovery must have been very slow, for in 
April, she was still in a state of " great debility :" 
and, to say the least of it, her life was certainly trifled 
with. 



286 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

As is usual in sucli cases, lier predictions were all 
verified; and as their predicting and method of ful- 
filling them is the same in cases of Artificial Som- 
nambulism, which is truly the same condition^ I consider 
it unnecessary to quote a case of the latter description 
to illustrate it further. It will be sufficient to say, that 
in the case of Madame Teste, which occupies about 
twenty pages of the same work from which the above 
is taken, and who, feeling an indescribable illness, en- 
tered this state for the purpose of finding out some- 
thing respecting her disease, and upon whose predic- 
tions the same dependence was placed by Dr. Teste, 
her husband, and who fulfilled her prescriptions with 
the same fidelity, regardless of anything else, at the 
imminent risk of her life ; and, although she even- 
tually recovered, I must still insist that, if she had 
not been permitted to do the one, the other would 
not have been necessary. 

Many similar cases are related in this work, and, 
as it has been translated into the English language 
and introduced among us, I deem it my duty to warn 
others from falling into the same mistakes. 

Some, I am sorry to see, have already fallen into 
the error, and have published cases in this country. 
I hope, however, what has been said in this work 
will soon dissipate the evil, especially when it be- 
comes generally known that subjects can, when prop- 
erly instructed, throw any part of their body into an 
insensible condition, and keep it in that state as long 
as they please, or until restoration has taken place. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMInTAMBULISM. 287 




CHAPTER XXY. 

OF THE KINDS OF DISEASE CURED WHILE IN THIS 

STATE. 

|ITH respect to tlie kinds of disease whicli are 
cured or relieved by Artificial SomDambulism, 
or by tbe inetliod I have proposed while the 
subject is in that state, I have but again to 
say, that whenever irritation or pain is a cause 
or symptom of disease, that that irritation or pain 
can be relieved by entering the somnambulic state, 
no matter what the cause may be ; and that both must 
cease so long as the body or the diseased part remains 
in the insensible condition ; and, if the mind of the 
patient be properly directed while in the state, the 
relief will be permanent when they awake ; or they 
can positively be taught to feel or not, as they please, 
when perfectly awake. 

By this statement, the reader will observe that I 
am not prepared to say that it will cure everything, 
but that, like all other remedies presented, it can 
never retrieve an absolute loss, nor restore a function 
virtually destroyed ; yet I have known it to relieve 
many cases of disease after repeated courses of medi- 
cine and the laying on of hands, etc., had entirely 
failed. Pain can always be relieved. As a forlorn 



288 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

hope, therefore, it deserves the attention of all who 
are interested in the cure or alleviation of human 
suffering. 

The diseases relieved by the method which I have 
proposed have been both of an acute and chronic 
nature ; such as, Inflammations, Inflammatory Eheu- 
matism. Erysipelas, Scarlatina, Kervous affections, 
Chorea, Amaurosis, Hysteria, Melancholy, Nervous or 
Sick-Headache, Dyspepsia, Fevers, Fever and Ague, 
Lahor-pains, After-jpains, and a variety of other local 
pains from injuries and other affections. 

I will now give a few of the most important and 
interesting cures, in detail, which have been effected 
in persons while in this state under my care. 

I. — CASE — Chorea, or St. Vitus' s Dance. 

Miss H , aged 10 years, had been under med- 
ical treatment for six weeks before I was called in, 
and had been gradually growing worse. 

I found her seated upon a large rocking-chair, 
propped with pillows and bolsters, unable to speak 
a word, to stand, or to use any of her limbs at will. 
She had lost control of her muscular system entirely, 
and when her eyes turned one way it was impossible 
for her to bring them back, or to fix them upon any 
object, even for an instant, and they kept rolling from 
one part of the socket to another, sometimes becom- 
ing fixed in one part and sometimes in another, etc. 
Her arms, in like manner, were twitching and starting 
involuntarily, and it was impossible for her to hold 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISIvr. 289 

anything in either of her hands, but more particu- 
larly the left. 

The involuntary contractions of the muscles of the 
face and forehead were frequent, and produced many 
singular and grotesque expressions, which it was out 
of her power to prevent. 

I prescribed medicine for about two weeks, with- 
out any evident advantage, and then resolved upon 
trying Artificial Somnambulism, the nature of which 
was explained to her, and her consent obtained to 
make the trial. 

She succeeded in entering it but very partially at 
first, but after repeated trials she entered it more 
deeply, and then began to improve rapidly after 
every sitting; and at the end of six weeks could 
speak, stand, and walk with considerable ease. She 
had but one sitting each week. 

Several weeks after, I was again called to see the 
same patient, who had a partial return of her former 
disease. She had been from home some weeks, and had 
taken a violent cold, which was followed by consider- 
able twitching, particularly in the left arm and side 
of the body, etc. ; and as some of the family had at- 
tributed her former cure to the medicine which I had 
first employed, I resolved, with their consent, to give 
the same medicine a fair trial, and accordingly pre- 
scribed as I had done in the first instance, and con- 
tinued for the space of six weeks, but without the 
slightest improvement on her part. 

Somnambulism was again resorted to, with the 



290 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

same effects as before. An immediate improvement 
followed, and after the fourth sitting was discharged 
cured ; and, although many years have since elapsed, 
there has been no return of her disease. 

II. — CASE — Epilepsy. 

Miss E , aged 19 years, was subject to epileptic 

fits at intervals of from two to four weeks. 

She succeeded in entering the state perfectly upon 
the second sitting ; was a very good clairvoyant, and 
was perfectly relieved. She had but four sittings, and 
has never had any return of her disease. Five other 
cases have been cured in the same manner, one of 
which was of twenty years' standing. 

III. — CASE — Dyspepsia. 

Miss ■■ had been laboring under dyspepsia for 

the last three years, attended with various irregular 
paius, particularly in the side, stomach, and back. 

She entered this state upon the first trial. Was a 
good clairvoyant, and had several sittings for experi- 
ments after she was entirely restored. Her sittings 
in all numbered twelve or fourteen. 

Many other cases bave been cured in from one 
to five or eight sittings, accordingly as they entered it, 
perfectly or not. 

IV. — CASE — Intermittent Fever. 

Mr. S. P. B was subject to ague every third 

day for six months. He entered this state but im- 
;)erfec*".iy ^ppn the first sitting without any relief. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 291 

On the second sitting he entered it more perfectly, 
about half an hour before the chill was expected. 

He remained in the state about two hours, during 
which time his mind was diverted by directing him 
to cast it to distant places, and to see clairvoyantly 
what was there going on, etc. At the end of that 
time, no chill or fever appearing, he was requested to 
awake, after his making a resolution that he would 
forget his disease. 

I met him five months afterward, when he declared 
that he had felt nothing of the ague since he had 
been in the sleep. Many others have, from time to 
time, been relieved in the same way. 

The idea that intermittent fever always requires 
a specific remedy for its cure, seems to be dissipated 
by these facts, and that, like other diseases, it can 
also be cured simply by abstracting the mind from 
the body, or forming a resolution, while in this state, 
that the difficulty shall be forgotten or cease to annoy. 
Or again, by keeping the subject in this condition 
until the time for its accession shall have passed, 
thus breaking up the habit, and with it, the recur- 
rence of the disease. 

Y. — CASE — Fever. 

Miss A. P was seized with a high fever, 

accompanied with violent headache, giddiness, and 
restlessness in October, 1843, which continued una- 
bated for three days and nights. 

I was not sent for until the evening of the third 
17 



292 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

day, and not being at home, word was left for me to 
visit her the moment I returned. I returned from the 
country about one o'clock the next morning, and 
visited her immediately. 

I found her laboring under a high fever, was very 
restless, and described her head as being '* ready to 
split" with pain. As she was very much opposed to 
taking medicine, and had often, out of curiosity, been 
in a state of Artificial Somnambulism months before, 
I proposed that she should enter that state. She at 
first objected, as she said it was impossible for her to 
enter it as long as her head ached as much as it did 
at that time. 

I told her she had but one choice besides, and that 
was a dose of medicine. The thought of medicine 
decided the question, and, after a third attempt, she 
threw herself into it in less than a minute. 

Upon asking her how she felt she said she was 
somewhat relieved, but still felt the pain along the 
side and back part of her head. I directed her to 
throw her mind upon something else, and not to think 
of her head ; and, as soon as she had done so, she 
was entirely relieved, and declared that she did not 
feel a particle of pain. 

Five minutes had not elapsed since she was awake, 
sick, and suffering torments; now, she was well, 
lively, and, as usual, in health, began to laugh and 
talk as if nothing had been the matter with her, 
occasionally joking about the medicine, sayirig that 
"this medicine (viz.: Somnambulism) is very easily 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 293 

taken, and I shall, hereafter, prefer it on all oc- 
casions." 

She remained in the state about half an hour, and 
after directing her to forget or throw off her disease, 
I requested her to awake, with the understanding 
that she should remain well when she did awake. 
She awoke perfectly relieved, and in line spirits. 

I saw her during the day, and found her as I had 
left her in the morning — well, sprightly, and ready 
for her usual vocations. She never had any return 
of the disease, and the only thing that I regret, in 
connection with her case, is that the whole world 
did not witness, as I did, the triumph of mind over 
positive disease. 

VI. — CASE. 

Mrs. S had been laboring under a pain in 

her left side, in the region of the spleen, for the last 
six years, which was caused by an injury received 
from falling off a shed roof, upon which she had been 
engaged in hanging up clothes. She fell ofi* back- 
wards, and fell upon her left side. She suffered ex- 
tremely at the time, and although she had applied to 
many physicians, and used a great deal of medicine 
for several years, she could obtain no relief. 

She was, at length, induced to try Somnambulism, 
and although she had never been clairvoyant, she 
entered the state perfectly in every other respect, and 
improved rapidly under the proper instructions. 

After entering it several times she was entirely 
relieved, and has remained perfectly well ever since, 
now many years ago. 



294 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBLXISM. 

I ascribe her not seeing, while in this state, to her 
unwillingness to look, and when awake she has 
frequently acknowledged that she felt so well while 
in the state, that she did not care about looking, 
and always disliked to be disturbed, preferring mucli 
to be let alone, so that she could enjoy the delightful 
sensations which thrilled through every nerve. 

YII. — CASE — Infiammatory Rheumatism. 

Mrs. B was afflicted with inflammatory 

rheumatism for two years, during which time all 
that medical skill could prescribe was used in vain. 
She gradually became worse, until all her joints 
became stiff, so much so, that she could not extend 
her limbs, nor bring her hands to her mouth. The 
joints of her fingers were much swollen, stiff, and 
painful. 

When I first saw her, besides the condition of her 
limbs, she suffered intense agony in various parts of 
the body. She was unable to turn in bed, and was 
obliged to awaken some one when she desired to 
change her position during the night. In the day- 
time she had to be carried from place to place, and 
fed like a child. 

I was called in as a physician, and requested to 
prescribe medicines for her relief. This I did to the 
best of my abilities, but all in vain ; everything that 
I could devise seemed to have no beneficial effects, 
beyond temporary relief; and, as all other remedies 
failed to produce the desired result, I proposed Som- 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 295 

nambulism, which, after the necessary explanations 
on my part, and a due consideration upon theirs, was 
eventually agreed to. 

After a few sittings, I succeeded in teaching her to 
throw herself into the state perfectly. A great im- 
provement in regard to her pains, etc., was immedi- 
ately experienced. She was also soon able to turn 
in bed without assistance, and to use the upper ex- 
tremities so as to feed herself, and to push herself 
about when placed upon a chair with wheels. 

A gradual improvement also took place in her 
lower extremities ; and when I last saw her, she was 
able to stand and walk with crutches, the knee-joints 
gradually yielding and the limbs becoming more 
straight. 

Her pains have long since ceased to afflict her, and 
her perfect recovery is but a matter of time. 

This was a remarkable case, and I cannot find 
words to convey a correct idea of the crippled, help- 
less, and suffering condition of this lady when I paid 
my first visit; and now, to see the change, I can 
scarcely realize that she is indeed the same person. 
Her looks proclaim that she is happy in the change, 
and Somnambulism, the humble agent of the mind, 
has gained another sterling victory. 

YIII. — CASE — Chronic Rheumatism. 

t 
Mrs. E was afflicted with local rheumatic pains 

in her head, back, and limbs. She entered the state 
upon the first sitting, and was an excellent clair- 
voyant. 



296 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

One sitting relieved her entirely ; and I may safely 
say that all other cases of a similar nature will also 
be relieved by entering the condition perfectly. 

I have never yet seen a case of rheumatism that 
was not relieved by entering this state ; but the per- 
manency of the cure will, of course, depend upon 
the care and prudence of the subjects themselves, as 
the cause which produced it orignally may produce 
it again ; but, when a person has been in this con- 
dition once, the remedy is always at hand. 

IX. — c A.SE — Hysteria. 

Mrs. G was subject to frequent attacks of hys- 
teria, headache, and other local pains from her youth. 
She entered this state upon the third trial, and after 
four other sittings was perfectly r^ored. 

She has had no return since she first entered the 
state, now seventeen months, and will remain free from 
attacks as they were originally, until there is cause 
sufficient to produce them again. 

X. — CASE — MelancJioly from Unrequited Love. 

Miss • had been melancholy and desponding 

for several years. She was induced to try Somnam- 
bulism for her relief. 

She entered the state perfectly the first trial, in less 
than ten minutes ; and after she had been in it for 
some time, i asked her, as is usual in such cases, 
whether she did not think that it was better for her 
to forget an attachment which could not be returned ? 

She said: "Zes, / believe it wouldJ^ I then asked 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 297 

her vvhetlier she was perfectly satisfied to do so, and 
to become lively and happy hereafter. She said: 
" Yes ; and I am resolved that it shall be so." With 
this understanding I requested her to awake. 

She awoke and retired with a friend. I have since 
been frequently informed that she has banished the 
circumstance from her mind entirely, and has been 
lively, contented, and happy ever since. 

XI. — CASE. 

About ten years ago, Mr. J. H lost his left eye 

and was otherwise much injured by the premature 
explosion of gunpowder, and ever since that time had 
been affected with rheumatic pains in various parts 
of his body, and a severe, incessant headache, which 
rendered life a burden to him. He had consulted 
many physicians, and had taken medicines from each 
without the slightest benefit. 

As a last resort, through the recommendation of 
others, he resolved to try Somnambulism. 

He entered the state perfectly upon the tenth trial, 
and has ever since — now about three years — been 
entirely free from all pains, and has frequently since 
declared to me that he feels like a new man. 

This gentleman is one of the very test clairvoyants, 
and has since frequently entered the state for phreno- 
logical purposes, and I am indebted to him for many 
accurate and interesting experiments. 

XII. — CASE. 

Miss Z was very delicate and small for her 

age, sickly, nervous, with a sallow complexion and. 



298 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

always subject to violent headaches, which were fre- 
quently accompanied with flying pains in her ears, 
teeth, jaws, arms, sides, etc. 

She entered this state perfectly upon the third trial, 
and improved in complexion and general health very 
soon ; losing all her pains immediately, and becoming 
lively and active. She is now, to use the language 
of her father, "grown to a strong, healthy, buoyant, 
and active young girl;" and although she has not been 
in the state for the last two years, her improved state 
of health remains unimpaired. 

She is one of the very best clairvoyants I have seen, 
and possesses a fine mind. I am indebted to her for 
many correct experiments in seeing, hearing, feeling^ 
taste, smell, etc. 

XIII.— CASE. 

I was called upon by Miss , residing in the 

country near the city of Lancaster, to know whether 
anything could be done for an affection of both arms 
which resulted from an attack of acute rheumatism 
which she had been afflicted with about a year 
before. 

Upon an examination I found that she was unable 
to straighten either arm, and when the attempt was 
made, it gave her considerable pain. 

She stated that she had been unaole to use them 
since her recovery, and was fearful that they would 
remain so, as she had consulted several physicians 
and employed many remedies to no purpose. 

I immediately proposed Somnambulism as the only 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 299 

remedy tbat I tliought would be of any use, and 
stated that if sTie could succeed in entering the state, 
that I could relieve her in a very short time — perhaps 
immediately. 

She consented to make the trial, and entered the 
state in about fifteen minutes. 

After satisfying myself that she was perfectly in 
the state, I requested her to extend her arms, which, 
with a slight assistance from me, she was enabled to 
do perfectly after a few trials, and upon asking her 
whether she experienced any pain when she did so, 
she replied, " No, not the slightest." 

She remained in the state about an hour and a 
half, during which time, between her clairvoyant ex- 
cursions and lookings, I frequently requested her to 
extend her arms. At the end of that time, after im- 
pressing upon her mind the necessary resolution, I 
desired her to awake. She did so at once, and to the 
surprise of herself and the friends who came with 
her, she could extend her arms as well as ever with- 
out the least pain. I have heard from her often 
during the last five years, and she is still able to use 
her arms as well as ever. 

XIY. — CASE — Contraction of the Muscles of the Fingers. 
(Flexor Sublunis Perforatus and Flexor profundus perforans.) 

Miss , from the country, aged 20. Subject to 

epileptic convulsions from her youth. 

I was consulted respecting the permanent contrac- 
tion of the muscles of the fingers of the right hand, 



800 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

which had taken place graduallj'' during her convul- 
sions. For the last year the contraction of the flexor 
muscles had been permanent, rendering the hand, 
with the exception of the thumb, immovable, and en- 
tirely useless. 

She entered the state upon the first trial, and w^hile 
in this condition was requested to extend her fingers. 
She succeeded in doing so to a considerable extent, 
and after several other sittings accomplished it entirely. 
She is now enabled to use the hand as well as ever. 
Her intellect had also been much enfeebled by her 
disease, and during her sleep she was instructed to 
improve it. Her mind was more collected when I 
last saw her, and the convulsions so far conquered as 
not to "hreahouty She intends during the coming 
spring to sit again, and may then be enabled to throw 
it off entirely. 

The above was written in 1843, and as the subject 
never came according to promise, I lost sight of her, 
and therefore cannot report the ultimate facts in her 
case. 

XV. — CASE — Scarlet Fever. 

Miss K. Z— was taken down with scarlet fever 

four days before I was consulted, and when I visited 
her, I found her laboring under a high fever, attended 
with considerable pain and soreness of the throat, and 
a scarlet blush over the whole body. 

As she was very much opposed to taking medicine, 
she asked me whether I thought Somnambulism 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 301 

would have any effect upon her disease. She had 
often been in the state before, at first out of curiosity, 
and afterwards for the purpose of having several 
teeth extracted. 

As she seemed to prefer Somnambulism to taking 
medicine, I told her she might use her own pleasure 
in regard to it, but that I had not yet had an oppor- 
tunity of testing its virtues upon cases of a similar 
nature. 

Accordingly she threw herself into the condition 
in a few seconds, and when asked respecting her 
throat, she declared that the pain v/as entirely gone. 
She remained in the state about an hour. At the 
end of that time the fever had abated, and when she 
awoke, she was entirely relieved of all unpleasant 
symptoms, and had no return of her complaint what- 
ever, after that time. 

This young lady is one of the very best clairvoyants 
and mind readers I have ever seen. 

XYI.— CASE. 

On the 20th of January, 1842, seven weeks after 

Mrs. H was confined with her second child, she 

was taken with a pain in her head and eyes, which 
was much increased upon stooping. 

During the day she was annoyed with a twinkling 
or a zigzag motion of the light before her eyes, and 
as evening approached, her sight began to fail, and 
by the next morning she was completely blind of the 
right eye. 



802 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

The left was, at this time, still good, but in about 
eight days after it also began to fail, and, at the end 
of two weeks, she could scarcely distinguish day 
from night. Her eyes remained pretty much in the 
same state, sometimes rather better, and then again 
worse, until June, when they became so bad that she 
could not, at times, make out to know her most inti- 
mate friends. 

About this time her mouth and stomach, as she 
said, " appeared to be raw," so much so, that she was 
obliged to abstain from eating or drinking anything 
that was the least strong ; even very weak coffee oc- 
casioned great pain in those parts. 

She also frequently complained of a numbness, or 
a dead feeling which she had experienced in her toe, 
gradually extended to the same foot and leg, and 
soon after to the right toe, and gradually growing 
worse in that also, until the first day of February, 
when she was unable to move her legs, feet or toes 
at all. She had also, for some time back, experienced 
the same deadness coming on in her fingers, but as 
this feeling seemed to grow worse in her limbs, her 
eyes became better. She had feeling in her limbs, 
but never complained of any pain. 

Several physicians attended her during the progress 
of her disease, but as she seemed to be growing worse 
instead of better she became alarmed, and hearing of 
the effects of Somnambulism in similar cases, she 
resolved to give it a trial. I was accordingly con- 
sulted soon after, and visited her about the middle 
of February. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 80S 

At this time, she was at the house of her father, 
about seven miles from the citj, where she had taken 
ill while on a visit. 

I found her seated upon a large rocking chair, 
and, after receiving the above history of her case, I 
examined the symptoms as they existed at the time. 

I found that her eyes had improved considerably 
since her limbs had become effected, and, at that 
time, she could distinguish persons, but could not see 
the largest hands upon the clock immediately oppo- 
site to her. 

She was unable to move the lower extremities in 
the slightest degree, although she tried a considerable 
time to effect it at my request, and was obliged, 
when she desired to move them, to do so with her 
hands. 

They were obliged to carry her both to and from 
bed, and whenever she attempted to stand, when 
held up, her legs refused to bear her weight, and, as 
she expressed it, " broke down," and, if not supported, 
she would have fallen to the floor. She was extremely 
nervous and complained of a general weakness, both 
of body and mind. 

After the necessary explanations had been made 
to her respecting the state she was about to enter, 
and the directions given how to proceed, the trial 
was made. After thirty-five minutes had elapsed, as 
I found there was no likelihood of her entering it 
perfectly, I requested her to cease until after tea, which 
was just then announced. During this sitting, how- 



304 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

ever her fingers and arms twitched considerably, 
but her legs were not affected. No relief followed this 
trial. 

As I was anxious to know whether she could move 
her toes, I requested her to remove her stockings, so 
that I could ascertain to a certainty whether there 
was any motion, when she made the exertion to 
move them. 

I could not, however, perceive the slightest motion, 
although she made many and often-repeated trials to 
do so. I was now satisfied that if an improvement 
did take place, we should be able to see it at once. 

After tea I again made the necessary explanations, 
and dwelt particularly upon those instructions which 
she had not observed in her first sitting. She stated 
that the noise created by those moving about the 
house had disturbed her. After enjoining silence 
upon all, she made a second attempt. 

The twitching this time, extended to the lower ex- 
tremities, and an occasional start in the muscles of 
the left leg and foot assured me that some effect would 
follow this sitting. 

After I observed several repetitions of this twitch- 
ing, I requested her to try and move her feet. This, 
to the astonishment and gratification of all present, 
she in some measure accomplished, and was able to 
raise the toes of the left foot from the floor, and to 
put them down at pleasure; but the right foot and 
left heel were still immovable. She was then directed 
to move the toes of the left foot occasionally, or as 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 305 

often as convenient to herself, and after she had been 
in this semi-state a few hours she was requested to 
awake, with the resolution on her part that she would 
be able to use it when awake. She awoke, arid was 
able to move it as well as when asleep. 

One week after, I visited her again, and found her 
precisely as I had left her. She was still ahle to raise 
the toes of the left foot, but nothing more. She entered 
the state for the second time, and was directed, to 
move the feet as before. This time she was able to 
move the toes of the right foot also, in the same 
manner as the left, but the heels of both were still 
beyond her control. 

After being in the state several hours she was 
directed to awake as before, and when awake was able 
to move the toes of both feet. On the third sitting, 
she raised the left heel ; and on the fourth, she gained 
control of the right. The fifth, she raised the left foot 
from the floor, and on the sixth, the right. She went 
on in this manner from week to week, improving at 
every sitting^ but never gained or lost anything between 
any of her sittings, although she made many efforts to 
move those parts which had not yet been relieved. 

By the middle of April she could stand, or lean 
the weight of her body upon her legs, and with the 
assistance of her friends was enabled to step or 
rather drag her legs after her. 

About this time she was taken to her own home, 
about two miles and a half from the city, and I now 
visited her about twice a week. She continued to 



306 AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

improve at every sitting, and by the middle of June, 
could walk alone ; her eyesight and general health also 
becoming better as her limbs improved. 

My visits were now again only made once a week, 
and, by the middle of July, I considered her entirely 
restored. 

She, however, entered the state several times after, 
at intervals of two, three, and four weeks, at the same 
time she was able to follow her usual occupations. 

This lady is also one of the very best clairvoyants, 
and I am indebted to her for many of the most im- 
portant and interesting experiments, clairvoyance, 
hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling, etc., which are 
detailed in this work. 

I would here remark, that this lad}^ did not become 
clairvoyant until after the twentieth sitting, although 
she, each time, made many efforts to become so. 

The cause of her not seeing sooner I ascribe to her 
extremely nervous condition, and her not being 
clairvoyant prevented her from entering the state as 
deeply as I desired that she should, consequently 
her recovery was much slower than it otherwise 
would have been, had she been able to concentrate 
her mind more firmly, and to resolve more decidedly, 
that her disease should be forgotten, or cease to be, 
when she awoke. 

XYI. — CASE. 

About the middle of October, 1846, I was called 

' upon by Mrs. , to visit her daughter, Miss — • — , 

about eighteen years of age. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 807 

Upon my first visit I received the following gen- 
eral history of her case : 

Her mother stated that she had always been very 
delicate, even from her childhood ; that she had never 
been free from headache within her recollection, and 
that, for the last four years, she had been afflicted 
with a severe cough and a continual pain in her chest. 
For the last two years she had occasionally spit 
blood, and that during the last spring and summer 
she had expectorated considerable quantities of pus. 
That she had been confined to bed since last spring, 
and had had convulsions daily since that time, some- 
times as many as thirty in twenty -four hours. 

Soon after I entered the room she was seized with 
convulsions, and during the paroxysm, which lasted 
about three 'minutes, the whole body was convulsed, 
the muscles of the chest more particularly so ; and, 
although conscious of their presence, she could not 
articulate, and to all appearance seemed to be in great 
agony. 

After the spasms had subsided she seemed to be 
much exhausted, but soon after recovered sufficiently 
to converse as before. 

She ascribed the convulsions — and I think correctly 
— ^to the excessive pain which she suffered, at intervals, 
in her " sides and breast." 

She had consulted me as a last resort, and desired 

to know whether Somnambulism would have any 

effect upon her disease. 

I stated, candidly, that her case was one which I 
18 



808 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

was fearful would not allow us to expect much from 
any remedy, but that if she would make up her 
mind to enter the state, I was convinced that she 
could, at least, be relieved of her pains and con- 
vulsions. 

After I had given her the necessary instructions 
she made the attempt, but the convulsions coming on 
soon after, prevented our proceeding for that time. 

She made another attempt in the evening of the 
same day, with but little better success. 

Upon the third, however, she entered the state per- 
fectly, and after waking felt much relieved. 

She entered the state every evening for a week, 
and at the end of that time, the convulsions, and the 
pains in her head and sides, etc., had nearly subsided. 

During the week, she had but three slight con- 
vulsions, and these were caused by local circumstances 
of a distressing nature. The family, though very 
respectable and intelligent, were in the most abject 
pecuniary circumstances. The father having died in 
the spring, of pulmonary consumption, the family, 
consisting of six small children, were dependent upon 
the mother and this her eldest daughter for support ; 
but as she and several of the children had been ill 
since her father's death, they were unable to earn 
even the necessaries of life. 

During this week she had also spit blood on two 
occasions, and expectorated considerable pus. 

At the end of the second week the convulsions 
and pains in her head and chest, etc., had entirely 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. S09 

subsided, she was able to sit up for several hours 
during the day, and there now seemed to be only a 
general weakness, and the original disease of her 
lungs. 

About this time, as I entered the room one evening, 
I found her sitting up, and observed that she ,was 
spitting or throwing up something unusual, and upon 
inquiry, was informed that about half an hour after 
her meals, she has always thrown up what she has 
eaten, and had done so for the last twelve years. 

This was the first intimation I had of this fact, and 
after she had been in the somnambulic state for an 
hour, just before waking I directed her mind to this 
circumstance, and requested her to resolve that this 
affection should also be corrected, and that her diges- 
tion should be improved. She made the resolution 
as I requested, and I had the satisfaction upon my 
next visit, of ascertaining that she had retained all 
the meals she had taken since my last visit. 

After three or four other sittings, I found her ap- 
petite and digestion good, and her strength, spirits, 
and general appearance much improved. 

About this time, in writing to a medical friend, 
after giving him a history of her case in detail, I 
concluded my letter by remarking : " What lying in 
the insensible condition of Artificial Somnambulism 
eight or ten hours a day may do for her lungs, I am 
anxious to know. The only question with me is, 
Will the perfect absence of irritation in the lungs 
for the above or a longer period, change the char- 



310 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

acter of her disease, and induce tlie ulcerated surface 
to heal ?" 

Still further to show my views of her case at that 
time, I extract the following from the same letter : 

" Heretofore, everything else has failed to give her 
relief, and as she enters the somnambulic state very 
deeply, and has been improving under instructions 
while in it, I have resolved to give it a fair trial, 
although my medical knowledge predicts unfavor- 
ably, and scarcely leaves room for any hope of per- 
manent benefit. Time will show the result." 

From the middle of November until the first of 
December she entered the state as usual every other 
evening, but was each time requested to awake, with 
the exception of her hody^ particularly her chest. 

This she effected very readily, and soon learned to 
keep the chest and lungs in the insensible condition 
during the time between her sittings. 

Under this treatment her cough and the expectora- 
tion of pus rapidly subsided. 

From the first of December until the first of January, 
1847, she entered the state but once a week, and is 
now — at the above date — so far as external appear- 
ances and her own feelings can warrant, entirely re- 
stored. 

Within the last month she has been to church re- 
peatedly, has visited her friends, and followed her 
usual occupations. 

I lost sight of her from that time, and, upon in- 
quiry, have since been informed that two years after 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 811 

she was restored by Somnambulism, she contracted a 
severe cold, wbicb being neglected, in consequence 
of religious prejudices excited against Somnambulism 
by officious bigots, brought on the old condition of her 
lungs, and that she died of that disease three years 
afterwards. 

The responsibility will of course rest where it 
belongs. 

Ever since the result of the first trial with Som- 
nambulism upon cases of pulmonary disease, I felt 
exceedingly anxious to continue the practice in 
others, but have as yet not been able to get cases 
sufficiently marked, or patients who are willing to 
make the trial — the facts in the case. not being gener- 
ally known — and will therefore have to await circum- 
stances. 

The foregoing cases, given in detail, have been se- 
lected from a number of others, who have been re- 
stored to health by the proper direction of the mind 
while in this state, within the last twenty-five years ; 
and I will here again remark that the mere entering 
this state will not relieve disease. It requires that the 
Tuind of the patient^ while in this condition, should he 
directed to the disease, and a desire or a resolution formed 
on their jpart that it shall he otherwise when they awalce. 
It is no matter whether this resolution he talten or he made 
independent of the instructor or not, the effect will he the 
same ; hut it is the duty of every person into whose care 
they entrust themselves, to see that it is properly done 
before they awakcj or no henpficial effects will follow. 



312 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

Great care should also he taken that they do not imagine^ 
resolve^ think, fear^ or believe that they will feel ill or 
badly when they awake, or this will certainly be the case, 
r have seen these effects upon many occasions^ even in 
healthy persons who feared or conceited that they would 
be so. This should always be guarded against^ and the 
current of their thoughts diverted from imaginary 
evils to pleasant sceneS; or things that yield them joy 
instead of grief. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 313 




, CHAPTER XXVI. 

SURGICAL OPERATIONS. 

^H DEEM it nnnecessary to give in detail an ac- 
)l| count of the various operations which I have 
•-^^ performed upon persons while in a state of 
Artificial Somnambulism, and will briefly 
remark that I have performed many which, 
though not the most important, are generally con- 
sidered the most painful, without the patients feeling 
or even knowing that an operation had been performed 
upon them at all. 

Among the number were several for cataract, the 
removal of tonsils, the tedious and difficult operation 
of removing a tumor from the inside of the mouth, 
and of the same from other parts of the body. 

The removal by dissection of several great toe-nails, 
which had grown into the flesh on either side, and 
had been the cause of much suffering for years. The 
removal by an operation of a portion of glass which 
had penetrated deeply into the fleshy part of the hand ; 
also in another case of a needle in the same situation, 
together with the extraction of innumerable teeth 
from various persons, who are all willing at any time 
to testify to the truth of what I have stated, and to 
acknowledge their preference for this method of get- 



814 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

ting rid of unruly members, or of passing through 
operations, etc., which are not to be avoided. 

I shall conclude my remarks upon this interesting 
subject by stating that, in operations upon subjects 
while in this condition, it is not only heneficial^ because 
the patient is not subjected to the pain usually experienced 
while under severe operations^ but because the system under 
such circumstances receives no shock, the effects of which 
every surgeon is fully aware, is more to be dreaded in 
their recovery than anything else. 

It is, therefore, self-evident, that when a patient 
has passed through an operation without pain or a 
shock to his nervous system, that his recovery must 
be more sudden, pleasant, and certain, than when he 
has not only suffered the pain and the shock, but 
must still necessarily feel the consequent irritation, 
etc.; resulting on all such occasions. 



A.RTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 315 



CHAPTER XXYII. 

OBSTETKICAL CASES. 




s 



N the ''Boston Medical and Surgical JournaV' for 
October, 1846, vol. xxxv., No. 10, I published 
the case of a lady, whom I delivered of a full- 
grown healthy child, while she was in a state of 
Artificial Somnambulism, without feeling pain 
or interfering with the natural contractions of the 
uterus. 

To this work I now refer all those who feel in- 
terested in the science or the benefits which it is des- 
tined to confer. 

Two years prior to the publication of the case 
above referred to, I delivered a lady while in the 
same condition. The facts in her case are as follows : 
In January, 1844, I, for the first time, delivered a 
lady of a healthy child, while she was in a state of 
Artificial Somnambulism, without any pain to the 
mother, except, when, for the sake of experiment, she 
was requested to feel one pain and not another. 

I had, for a long time, been anxious to test the 
truth of my inferences, which were founded upon 
the facts laid down in this work, when speaking of 
the sense of feeling, where the powers of the subject 
to feel or not in any part as they please, is proved 
beyond dispute. 



316 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

In the cases above alluded to tlie same is tlie case, 
and females have the same power over uterine pains, 
and, although they may feel a pain when they please 
they can also not feel it when they are so disposed 
without interfering in the smallest degree with the natural 
contractions of the uterus, in expelling its contents. 

The fact, therefore, that woman can pass through 
the various stages of labor without feeling pain, has 
now been practically demonstrated. 

This desideratum, which I had long believed possi- 
ble, I have, with but little difficulty, accomplished in 
many other cases, and the time is not far distant when 
prejudice, ignorance, and bigotry will be set aside, 
and the benefits which an improved science has 
brought to our doors, will be hailed with delight by 
a free and enlightened people, while all the ills that 
flesh has been heir to will live but in the memory of 
the past. 

This idea may seem premature at this time, but if 
mankind had witnessed the perfect freedom from 
pain, in these cases, during the severest contractions 
of the uterus, while in the act of expelling the foetus 
from its cavity, they, too, would say : — " Old things 
have passed away, and a new era is at hand." 

CONCLUSION". 

Those who have read the preceding pages of this 
work carefully and without prejudice, I think must 
have arrived at conclusions similar to those which I 
have, from the deepest convictions of their truth, 
thought it my duty to advocate. 



AKTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 817 

When this subject first came under my notice I 
found it literally to be a mass of contradictions and 
incongruities, over which ignorance, prejudice, and 
superstition had thrown a veil so dark and impene- 
trable that it was almost impossible to tell whether 
there was any truth commingled with the falsehood. 
And it is painful still to see, in our larger cities, the 
impositions of paralyzing limbs, and the seeing, 
hearing and tasting falsely^ etc., permitted by the 
public, and practised by those who ought to know 
better, professing, as they do, to be the leaders of the 
science. 

Those who have repeated the experiments which I 
have detailed in this work, will have seen that the 
so-called operator has no power to produce such effects ; 
that the subject is independent of him in every 
sense of the word, and can see, move, hear, taste, feel, 
and smell, etc., independent of him or any other person, 
and that there is absolutely no more sympathy, in 
any sense of the word, between him and the subject, 
than there is between the subject and any person 
else. 

That sympathy, of which so much has lately been 
said, only means fellow-feeling, and that no inde- 
scribable influence can be attached to it any more 
than there can be to the Neurara, or the animal 
magnetic fluid, neither of which have any existence 
in nature. 

Nor is there any necessity for such fluids, or for 
such an influence, since every part of the system is 



818 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

absolutely aad positively connected by nerves ema- 
nating from tbe brain, medulla oblongata and spinal 
marrow, and when we communicate with each other 
we use our sight, speech, hearing, feeling, taste, and 
smell, etc., all of which senses, while in a somnam- 
bulic state, can be translated to a distance — and this, 
too, whether we are conscious or not — and there 
used as well as if the persons or things were within 
our reach. 

These fluids or influences, therefore, are only in the 
"mind's eye" of those who form their theories first, 
and afterwards endeavor to mould the facts to them. 

I also deny that it is possible to put any person 
into this state or to take them out of it when contrary 
to their own will. Let the experiment be fairly 
tried, and it will be found impossible, because they 
do and always have done it themselves. 

By a fair trial I mean, take a new subject that 
has never been trained to any system, and explain to 
him the true nature of the state and his powers 
therein, viz. : that he has a mind and will of his own, 
and, if he chooses, can use it in all conditions and 
under all circumstances, and it will be found impos- 
sible as long as he uses his will, for any one to throw 
him into any state, or into any condition to make 
him see, hear, do, taste, or smell, etc., anything con- 
trary to his will. But if he be taught and made to 
believe that white is black, black it will be to him in any 
condition; biU because he believes so does not prove that 
if the truth were taught him that he could not see its 



ARTIFICIAL S0MXAMBULI3M. 319 

true color, or do as his reason dictates in spite of any 
one. 

I have tried to effect the sleep hundreds of times, 
independent of the subject's knowledge, hut could 
never succeed, unless the subject, or certain organs 
of his brain were in a clairvoyant condition ; but I 
have frequently seen subjects fall into the sleep when 
they thought that I was willing for them to go into it, 
although I, at the time, had not the slightest idea of 
the kind. 

If it were possible to do this at all, as has been 
said, it would, in my opinion, be just as easy to put 
any person into it, even a stranger at a distance, 
contrary to his will, and it ought to make no differ- 
ence whether that stranger were in New Orleans or 
China. 

The advocates of the sympathetic theory say that, 
"Where the relation has been sufficiently established 
between two persons a patient may be put to sleep 
as well a million of miles distant as one, provided he 
be in a suitable condition at the time, and have the 
necessary apprehension of the anticipated or designed 
result." 

This is synonymous with, or, in other words, is as 
much as to say, if the subject be clairvoyant at the 
time and his attention be directed to the so-called 
operator, that the result will follow. This is true. 
But my theory is, that the patient, even in this case, 
can throw himself into the state, not only indepen- 
dent " of the necessary appreciation of the anticipated 



520 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

design " of tlie operator, but in spite of him and con- 
trary to his express will, either before his face or 
behind his back, etc., whenever he pleases. Let 
the experiment be properly made, and the truth of 
what I have stated will soon be rendered self- 
evident. 

If there be an outside influence on an animal mag- 
netic fluid in the case at all, it ought to exhibit its 
powers in all cases alike, as magnetism or any other 
imponderable fluid. Magnetism and electricity effects 
every person alike, and require conductors or wires 
when communication is to be established between 
persons at a distance. 

I have, so far, failed to see the wires in the case of 
animal magnetism. Clairvoyance, and the powers 
of the senses, mind reading, etc., explain all the phe- 
nomena exhibited by persons while in this state, and 
I do not see why we should seek for a thing which, 
in reality, has no existence in nature, to explain phe- 
nomena which are already so perfectly accounted for 
by powers within ourselves.* 

I think I have also sufficiently proved that the old 
method of exciting the organs, either by the applica- 
tion of the fingers of the operator, or of the subject's, 

* The word clairvoyance does not express the idea I wish to 
convey when I speak of the powers of the senses, or of the mind, 
and, therefore, have used the word clearminded or clearminded- 
ness, and wish it to be understood as meaning the power of the 
mind, or of all the senses and faculties. Clairvoyance is internal 
perception, or simply seeing without the aid of the eye. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 521 

is an incorrect way of obtaining information, and 
all that is absolutely necessary to produce tbe same 
effect is for subjects to throw their own minds upon 
those portions of the brain which may be designated 
to render them active. 

In either case it is an act of their own will, and if 
they do not choose that an organ shall become active, 
their own fingers, or those of the operator, may be 
held there for an indefinite period, without producing 
any effect. 

The only true method of ascertaining the location, 
etc., of the various organs is, in my opinion, to re- 
quest the subjects to awaken — when the brain is in the 
somnambulic state — certain portions of the brain at a 
time ; or when the brain is awake, to get them to put 
certain portions into this state, as I have fully de- 
scribed in this work. 

When but a single portion of the brain has been 
awakened, and kept 'perfectly awaTce, it can be ascer- 
tained what powers of perception, etc., have been lost ; 
and on the other hand, when but a single organ is in 
this state, it will be as easily ascertained what percep- 
tions, etc., are the most or alone active. 

That it is dif&cult, however, to get some subjects to 
do this properly, I have already acknowledged, but 
some do it very easily, and the results, I think, when 
proper care has been taken, will be nearer the truth 
than any other demonstrations which have yet been 
offered. 

So far as my observations have gone, they have 



322 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

been so, and although it requires a great deal of care, 
on the part of the subject, to keep a certain portion 
only either awake or asleep, and as it is the only way 
that will be likely to bring us nearer the truth, it 
should be steadily persevered in, until the accumula- 
tion of facts shall warrant our decisions. 

With respect to the functions spoken of under the 
head of " The functions considered in the natural and 
somnambulic states," I have only to say that I believe 
that such kinds of action are possessed by each of the 
faculties, and that each faculty can act independent 
of the rest, producing ideas, the result of the action 
of the functions belonging to each ; and that by their 
respective functions of association they are capable 
of acting together, and thus produce the various 
modifications of mind. 

Much has been said in some works about subjects 
being agreeably or disagreeably effected by the touch 
of other persons, or other substances while in this 
state. They are, however, only likes or dislikes, 
either natural or from some causes, or indeed often 
only freaks which are exercised and changed by them 
at pleasure. 

They may be insensible of pain when violence is 
applied to their own persons, yet at the same time, if 
their attention be directed to the " operator," or any 
other person, whether they are suffering pain or not^ they 
can imagine and feel pain^ as well in the one case as in 
the other ; yet they are not obliged to feel it in either 
case. 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 323 

This, as I have before stated, proves that they can 
feel what they imagine as well as see what they imagine. 

If it were not so, they could not feel pain where 
none was fe?t by the "operator," or those who were 
engaged in the experiments. Their feeling pain in 
the above way cannot be ascribed to sympathy, unless 
we could suppose that he sympathized with himself, 
for no one else suffered. 

So far as my experience goes, I have found that 
their powers of controlling the functions of the heart, 
kidneys, liver, etc., are very limited ; but they can by 
an act of their own will, control the7n just as well 
without the application of the 'operator's" fingers 
to certain parts of the head, or the supposed " sym- 
pathetic points," as with such an interference. They 
can " sing, dance, laugh," or in a moment render them- 
selves rigid, insensible, or exquisitely sensitive to 
pain, without any operation upon a:Qy of the newly 
invented ''cerebral functions," simply by an act of 
their own will. 

This power, clearmindedness, and that of their 
ability to read the mind of another, has deceived many 
*' operators," and caused them to invent and locate 
organs which really have no existence. 

Their remembering what has transpired while in 

this state when they awake, depends upon their own 

will or determination to do so ; and if they do not 

wish to remember, they can blot it from their memory 

and know nothing about it when awake. 

Some subjects can, if they desire it, forget a name, 
19 



324 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

a person, or a place, etc., when they awake ; they 
will have forgotten the one or the other as perfectly 
as if they had never known the name, been acquainted 
with the person, or had any knowledge of the place, 
etc., until they re-enter the state and resolve that it 
shall be otherwise ; or, if they please, they can forget 
for a certain specified time, and at the end of that 
period will remember again. 

This peculiar power, as I have before stated, I have 
taken advantage of for the purpose of curing diseases, 
etc., and recommend it as the best method which I 
have yet employed. I will here again remark, that 
the firmer the resolution on their part, the sooner 
the disease, the habit, or the affection^ etc., will be 
overcome. 

Some enter the state much deeper than others, and 
I have not yet seen two who do so alike ; there can, 
therefore, be no description given, or rule laid down, 
which will apply to every case. 

Some twitch and start very much while entering 
it, and others but very little; some feel cold and 
others warm ; but, generally speaking, the hands and 
feet of those who enter it deeply become very cold, 
and remain so for a considerable time. In one or 
two cases I saw the breathing very much effected, 
becoming very quick and laborious ; but I have fre- 
quently observed that most subjects are effected like, 
or similar to, the person or persons whom they first 
saw in the state, and am, therefore, of the opinion 
that all unnatural appearances and affections, etc., are 



AETIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 325 

the results, not of the condition itself, but of wliat 
they saw in others^ and believed to he necessary or una- 
voidable. 

Of all the phenomena exhibited by persons in this 
state, I consider their ability to read the mind of 
another one of the most extraordinary faculties which 
they possess. Their physical insensibility, their 
powers of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feel- 
ing things, etc., at a distance are extraordinary 
powers ; but to read an idea, a thought, a mental 
image, a something that is not tangible, or which can 
neither be seen, heard, tasted, or felt in a natural 
state, I conceive is, if possible, still greater than all. 
How they do it they cannot satisfactorily explain, 
but that they have done so and can do so again, I do 
not now pretend to doubt. 

I do not wish to be understood, however, that I 
believe that all subjects always do it correctly. This 
is, by no means, the case ; but I have tested this 
power frequently in good subjects, and after calling 
their attention to the nature of the experiment I de- 
sired to make, without saying a word which might 
lead them to suppose where I had thrown my mind, 
or what I was thinking about, I have had them to 
tell me precisely what was passing in my mind at 
the time. 

In experiments of this kind I have usually thrown 
my mind to a certain place, or upon a certain person 
or thing. Sometimes I thought of the name of a 
person or thing, or of places and scenes at a distance 



326 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 

but I could, as yet, never get them to repeat after 
me (verbatim) sentences of any length; but whether 
this was from inability, or a disinclination on their 
part, I am unable to say, and it is yet to be learned 
how far cultivation will improve this power. 

The identity of this state with many others, some 
of which I have mentioned in this work, I think is 
self-evident, and although prejudices and a dislike to 
depart from old opinions will, for a while, retard the 
proper investigations by the masses, truth will, in 
the end, prevail. 

There can be no doubt that subjects, when in a 
statuvolic or somnambulic condition, have more 
foreknowledge of things than when they are in a 
normal condition, their powers being more or less as 
the state is perfect, or not. 

They may see things, at any distance which trans- 
pire, long before the fact can be communicated by 
persons, letters, or even by telegraph ; but this is not 
strictly foreseeing, it is only seeing that which is 
passing at the time. 

So, likewise, they may learn the past from another 
person who is familiar with that which may have 
taken place long before they were born ; but they 
cannot see or know the past unless it can be obtained 
in a way yet unexplained, from surrounding or in- 
animate bodies, which, it would appear, retain a 
something that enables subjects even to distinguish 
articles, etc., belonging to strangers as well as others, 
although a number of the said articles may be com- 



ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 827 

mingled and sliaken up in a hat. I have but to say, 
in regard to this matter, that all our surroundings 
seem to be affected by our presence in some photo- 
graphic or mysterious way that scientific researches 
have not yet satisfactorily explained. In regard to 
the possibility of entering this state I have but to 
say, that the doing it depends upon the individual 
who desires to do so, as well as upon the instructions 
given, and it will be more difficult for those whose 
characters and prejudices are formed than for those 
who are free from such hinderances. The young and 
unsophisticated will, therefore, be more likely to suc- 
ceed, and when the condition is perfectly understood 
by the masses, and properly taught by those who 
profess to do so, there can be no doubt that all will 
be able to enjoy its benefits. It does not require 
the gift of prophecy to foretell that the time is not 
far distant when Artificial Somnambulism will be 
taught in all the schools, lyceums, seminaries, and in- 
stitutions of learning. Then will this knowledge be 
truly appreciated, and the benefits to be derived from 
it realized by all who wish to escape the ills that 
ignorance is heir to. But to conclude: 

The consequent good resulting from a proper 
management of persons, while in this state, has been 
fully treated ; but its benefits to mankind does not 
stop here. It goes hand in hand with Phrenology 
and many of the other sciences, and is the only key 
to the true philosophy of mind. 

That what I have said of it is true, I have not 



828 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. y^ ^ /< 

the slightest shadow of a doubt. I am fully per- 
suaded that it will stand the utmost scrutiny, and 
like virgin gold, the oftener it is smelted the purer 
it will come forth from the furnace of its exami- 
nation. 

It is now but barely sifted from the dross, and in 
the mantle of unblushing truth presented to the 
world. Let it but have that justice which is due, 
and time will show whether it shall be denied the 
title of a Science. 



THE END. 






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